The Warmth Of A Cold Heart
by Joanne Amelia
Summary: Rebecca Johnson is a pain in the neck. Sirius Black is every girl's dream boy. They say that opposites attact... but that's just one part of this couples' story.
1. Rebecca Johnson

**hello, all of you. :) i've decided to start on another story. i just watched gossip girl and i felt like writing before the idea escaped my mind. this is a sirius/oc fic and the oc's not jolie, okay? it's a new girl, evidently. :)) anyway, read on to find out. and if you have time, reviews are much appreciated.**

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1. REBECCA JOHNSON

"Bye, Mr. Potter."

Young Sirius Black said goodbye to James Potter's father at Platform Nine and Three Quarters in King Cross' Train Station. He had run off from his own home back in the old days, saying that he couldn't take his family anymore. If it was one thing Sirius Black hated, it was people who were completely stuck up with "blood purity" for the wizarding world.

And so, he lived with the Potters. Mr. and Mrs. Potter's son was James, a good-looking boy (but not nearly as good looking as Sirius himself) who wore round glasses and had pleasurable grades in school, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. James Potter was exceedingly good in Transfiguration, just like Sirius, and had a very obsessive infatuation with the charming, pretty, red-haired Lily Evans (who, unfortunately, did not feel the same way).

Last summer vacation, Sirius Black bought his own home—Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. He and James were here at Platform Nine and Three Quarters for their seventh and last year at Hogwarts.

"Bye, Dad," James said.

"Right then, off you go," Mr. Potter ruffled both boys' hair playfully, as if they were young boys again.

Sirius and James also had two other best friends, namely Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. Together, the four of them nicknamed themselves the Marauders and they became extremely popular in school ever since their first year—particularly for their good looks, charm, wits and hilarious trouble making (hilarious to most of the students at Hogwarts, but certainly not to the teachers and staff).

It seems as if everybody in Hogwarts knew everything about the famous Marauders—or so they thought. These four boys had one little secret and it was that they were Animagi, people who could transform into animals. Not only that, but they were _illegall,_ _unregistered Animagi_. Sirius turned into a dog, which earned him the inside nickname, Padfoot, James turned into a stag, which is why his friends called him Prongs and Peter, the smallest of the lot, turned into a rat and his alias was Wormtail. Remus turned into a werewolf at the full moon every month and he was, by his friends, also known as Moony.

That's right, he did. And that's what led Sirius, James and Peter to become illegal Animagi. They were curious why Remus would disappear at a regular time every month and so they did a little investigation and found out about his "furry little problem" as James liked to call it in company. Sirius, James and Peter became Animagi for Remus, to keep him company and to keep him safe during his transformations when it was full moon.

"Ah, Moony! Wormtail!" Sirius called his other two friends in his usual haughty voice and opened his arms to give them both a rough hug. "How's the summer been for you, eh?"

"Oh, you know," Peter replied, "the usual. Visiting a few of my relatives back in France."

"Met some pretty chicks from Paris, huh?" Sirius winked.

"Oh, shut up," Peter scoffed.

"How 'bout you, Moons?" Sirius asked.

Remus shrugged. "It got a little interesting. As you all know, Lily found out about me being a werewolf last summer, and so she visited my place during full moon week. Mum and Dad quite like her, they've never been more supportive."

"How is it that you get on good terms with Lily and I don't?" James demanded bitterly.

"First impressions count, Prongs," replied Remus. "She and I became good friends on the very first day of first year. We got even closer when we both became prefects."

James chuckled, "Well, Dumbledore appointed me—"

"Head Boy!" Remus smiled and laughed, surprised, "Well, who would've known? Congratulations, Prongsie."

At the same moment, Lily Evans passed by. "Head Boy?" she asked incredulously, "Did I hear right, Remus? _James Potter, Head Boy?!_"

"Well… yeah."

James turned around to see Lily staring at him, fuming. "Who in their bloody right mind would make _you _Head Boy?!" asked Lily, her voice raised.

"Oh, relax, Lily," Sirius waved an airy hand. Lily narrowed her eyes and glared. She disliked Sirius as much as she disliked James.

"Relax?! How can I relax, you womanizing prat?! _I'm Head Girl!_" Lily almost screamed.

"You are?!" James' eyes widened with joy. "Oh, Lily, we're going to have so much fun together!" And he threw himself at her and hugged her tight.

"Potter! Get off me! I can't—breathe! GET OFF!" Lily managed to push James away.

James was almost knocked to the ground but he hit someone passing by accidentally when Lily pushed him.

"Excuse me!" a girl exclaimed in her thick, American accent. "Watch where you're going, will you?!" She made sure to bump James on the shoulder before leaving.

"Oh—I'm sorry!" Lily called after her but the anonymous girl just looked over her shoulder and glared.

Sirius frowned, very curious. He stared as the girl went inside the train. She was thin, curvy, but somewhat small and had smooth, pale skin that made her look almost like paper in bright light. Her shiny hair was yellow blonde and very long, falling in curls just above her hips and her eyes were a piercing, deep blue.

"Who's that?" Sirius asked softly to no one in particular.

"That," Lily answered, sighing, "is Rebecca Johnson. She's new and she's in Slytherin. She used to study in Beauxbatons but she was expelled last year. Lucky for her, Hogwarts was kind enough to accept the likes of her.

"I know," Lily said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone, rolling her eyes at how Sirius stared at Rebecca, "she's something for boys to gawk at. Good looking, yes. Quite a head turner if I say so myself. Big-headed, though… huge ego. Bitchy attitude."

They were all silent, caught up in their thoughts about her. "Very much like you, Potter, now that I think of it," Lily added as an after thought, meaning to insult James. After that, she left as well.

James grinned and turned to his friends, "Lily thinks I'm good looking? And a head turner?"

"And big-headed with a huge ego and a bitchy attitude," Sirius added.

"Oh, shut it," James warned.

"Apparently, that Rebecca Johnson is, too," Peter said, ignoring James.

"What's up with her, though? Why was she expelled from Beauxbatons?" Sirius asked.

"She doesn't sound English," said Remus, not answering Sirius' question, "More like… American, I guess."

"I want to get to know her," Sirius immediately stated without thinking.

"Padfoot, there you go again with girls! And term hasn't even started yet. You can't just do that!" James looked aghast. The Hogwarts Express was leaving in five minutes and so the four boys went inside the train.

"She's in Slytherin," James continued, "_and _she was expelled from her old school. There's a reason she was expelled from there…"

"But _what is _the reason?" wondered Remus.

The train began to leave King's Cross and Sirius, James, Remus and Peter began looking for a compartment.

"I don't know," shrugged Sirius, "And I don't care if she's from Slytherin, I still want to get to know her… or try to, at least."

"Ugh," Peter shuddered, "she seems nasty."

"First impressions count," Remus said again.

"Yeah, but how would Lily know how Rebecca Johnson is really like, though?" asked Sirius, sceptical.

And then he slid open a compartment door. "Excuse me, is it alright is we stay here?" Sirius asked, distracted, not looking at the people who were sitting inside the compartment, "Everywhere else is full."

There was no answer.

Sirius finally looked at the people there and was surprised to find himself staring at his own cousin, Bellatrix Black.

"Well, hello there, _dear_ Sirius," Bellatrix cackled. "Fancy _this_ compartment, now, do you?"

Sirius said nothing. He was busy staring at the girl who was seated with Bellatrix. She had long, blonde hair, pale skin and piercing blue eyes.

Rebecca Johnson.

And for some reason, she was staring back at Sirius.

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**so what, should i continue this story? when i wrote this, i sort of remembered wild child, a movie starring emma roberts. i was thinking about which actors i might use for this fic... you know, to give you people an idea on how they look like. i was thinking perhaps, skandar keynes for james, emma stone for lily, jake austin for peter, chace crawford for remus and gaspard ulliel for sirius. i'm not sure about gaspard for sirius, though... oh yeah, and maybe brittany snow for rebecca. **


	2. Hogwarts' New Eye Candy

**hey people. i'm in the mood to post a new chapter today because i'm watching shane dawson! look him up on youtube, he's the best person on the planet! =)))) amazing guy. :") he always makes my day, HAHA. his vids are hilarious, go watch them, have fun, whatever.**

**R&R this story if you have time, though i'm not expecting much yet since it's new. i'm sorry i haven't updated the dawn of a new day in a while, but i will soon. i dunno when, but i'm not giving up the story. :) HAHA. **

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2. HOGWARTS' NEW EYE CANDY

Rebecca Johnson had an intriguing expression on her face as she stared back at Sirius. Her lips parted, she looked as if her breath was hitched in her throat, and her eyes were showing a mixture of fear, regret and anger. As much as Sirius wanted to look away, he just couldn't. They stared at each other for just a quick moment, yet it seemed like forever. Then suddenly, she stood up without a word and left the compartment.

"Becca, wait—" Bellatrix said.

Rebecca brushed past Sirius, and he had his eyes on her. She just continued walking away.

"Now, look what you've done," Bellatrix blamed and frowned at her cousin, "Oh, _fine. _Get in, you bastards. Just don't talk to me."

"Uh, Sirius, mate," James tapped Sirius on the shoulder, "I gotta go. You know, Head Boy stuff."

"Yeah, sure."

"See you later, Remus, Peter," James said goodbye to the other two.

Remus and Peter hesitantly took their seats. It wasn't exactly comfortable being in a limited space with Bellatrix Black.

Sirius looked back out of the compartment, Rebecca was still walking, looking for another place to stay. Then to Sirius' surprise, she looked back and glanced at Sirius.

"Who's that?" Sirius asked absentmindedly, even though he already knew the answer.

"Who's who?" asked Remus.

"Huh?" Sirius snapped out of his trance, "Uh, no one."

Bellatrix scoffed.

Sirius said sharply, "What?"

"You're talking about Becca."

"Who?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Rebecca Johnson. Honestly, can you be any dumber?" she frowned, "Do you want me to elaborate?

"She's the girl with long, blonde hair," Bellatrix said slowly as if she was speaking to a two year old, "who just walked out of the compartment because you freaked her out with your murderous stare. She has blue eyes and her nickname's Becca. That's spelled as B-E-C—"

"Oh, just shut up, you," Sirius said irritably.

There was a moment of silence.

Suddenly, Bellatrix exclaimed, "God, I can't take it anymore! I'm looking for another compartment."

She stood up. "Gryffindor stench…" she muttered as she walked away.

Sirius closed the compartment door harder than usual. "Stupid bitch," he muttered about his cousin.

"Do you _really _hate her, Sirius?" asked Peter.

"Who, Bellatrix? Of course I do! She's crazy, I swear. She threw a party when Hera died."

"Who's Hera?"

"Hera's my other cousin. She twenty years old and she died just last summer. I don't know all the details, my family won't tell me anything… she was my favourite relative, you know."

"Is she the one you kept on writing to last summer?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, that's her," sighed Sirius, "God, I miss her."

"How did she die?"

Sirius looked at his friends and then said, "She was murdered. Remember the Quidditch Tournament last summer? She went there, and there was a surprise death eater attack—"

"Hey, I know that!" Remus' eyes widened, "It was in the Daily Prophet. It said that there were four people who were killed. All were from the Ministry."

Peter asked, "Hera worked for the Ministry, then?"

"She did," Sirius nodded. "She didn't even have a proper funeral," he said bitterly, "She's against You-Know-Who, like me. My family hates her as much as they hate me."

There was another moment of silence. And then there was a sudden change of subject.

"I want to get to know that Rebecca Johnson," Sirius muttered.

"Sirius…" Remus warned.

"I don't want to hook up with her or anything like that!" Sirius said defensively, "I just want to know her. You know that feeling when you see someone, and you—"

"Fall in love?" Peter asked.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "No, silly. I'm not in love with Rebecca Johnson."

"I get you, though," Remus nodded. "You're getting that feeling that you want to know her personally. Not just by face, not just by name."

"Yes," Sirius confirmed. "But how? She looks so unapproachable."

"She looks mean," Peter said.

"They're just looks, though. I believe everyone has a good side," Remus stated.

"You think? She's friends with Bellatrix, for God's sake," Peter replied.

Sirius said, "Yeah, well, she's not Bellatrix."

Remus thought for a while and then said, "Lily said that she had a bad attitude, though."

"Lily thinks James is a horrible person no one can stand," Sirius said pointedly. "The truth of the matter is, James is a wonderful person whom everyone likes."

"Except her," Peter laughed.

"She'll come around," Remus shrugged.

* * *

The students finally arrived at Hogwarts. As usual, they had the annual sorting for the first years. The sorting hat sang a different song every year, but the message always stayed the same—that a war was coming close and that the four houses must unite. Dumbledore welcomed the students and said a few announcements, but other than that, there was nothing else. The students all enjoyed the dinner feast afterwards.

"Why'd you walk out earlier?" Bellatrix asked Rebecca at the Slytherin table during the dinner feast.

"That boy who was staring at me… isn't he Regulus' brother?" Rebecca whispered.

Regulus looked up from his food and asked, "You've… you've met Sirius?"

"Not really. That's his name? We just sort of had a staring moment back at the train."

"Well, why was he staring at you?" Regulus asked.

Rebecca said, annoyed, "That's just it, I don't know!" She sighed, "I recognized him, though. He looks like you… I knew he was a Black. Just like Hera." There was a trace of fear in the tone of her voice.

Regulus laughed, "Don't think about Hera Black, darling. She's not worth it."

Rebecca smiled at him and looked more at ease.

"So, what do you think of Hogwarts, so far?" Severus asked. He was seated beside Regulus.

"Well if you take out Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, it would be more awesome," she answered and Bellatrix, Regulus and Severus laughed with her.

"But then there would be no one to be mean to," Bellatrix said mischievously.

"Yeah, and there wouldn't be any unworthy anti-Dark-Lords staring at you right now, Becca," Regulus pointed out.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"People are staring at you. And by people, I mean everyone, Slytherin or not."

Rebecca looked around. "Everyone's not staring at me."

"He's exaggerating," Bellatix laughed, "The truth is, most of the boys are eyeing you."

"Ah, our new eye candy," Severus teased.

Rebecca chuckled and then rolled her eyes, "I am _not _Hogwarts' new eye candy, Sev."

"Says you."

"You saw how ickle Sirius stared at you back at the train," Bellatrix smirked.

Rebecca chuckled again, but otherwise, she said nothing. She really couldn't argue about it. It was pretty obvious—she really was Hogwarts' new eye candy.

"What was it like in Beauxbatons?" Regulus interrupted Rebecca's thoughts as he passed a platter of chicken to one of the Slytherins.

"You know I can't tell you about that. It's a secret," Rebecca said, her tone seductive.

Regulus smirked at her and looked smug.

"Anyway," Rebecca said, "What's the password for the common room?"

"Salazar," replied Bellatrix.

After the feast, Dumbledore said a few more words and then everyone left the Great Hall to have a good night's sleep.

Rebecca, Bellatrix, Regulus and Severus were walking in a hallway, going to the Slytherin common room.

"Be careful with the staircases, Becca," Regulus warned as he put his arm around her casually, "They like to move."

When they finally arrived in the common room, Regulus and Severus bade the two girls good night and headed for the boys' dormitory. Bellatrix grabbed Rebecca's wrist and pulled her, saying, "This way to the girls' dorm, Becca."

The Slytherin common room looked gloomy and dark, but otherwise it looked beautiful, what with its regal aura. The fireplace had ornate, fancy carvings and the floor was made of white marble. The whole common room was located underneath the Black lake, so the lights were all green. In some corners were busts of mythical creatures like cockatrices and gargoyles.

When Bellatrix and Rebecca entered the girls' dormitory, the beds were all four posters and each had hanging, green velvet curtains. The sheets were green as well and were laced with silver. The room had an aura of mischief and slight evil. Rebecca liked it.

As she lay on her bed, getting ready to sleep, she thought about what kind of year this might be for her. It was her last year in school and she was very unlucky to get expelled from Beauxbatons, just because of a big misunderstanding. As much as her fellow Slytherins disliked Dumbledore, she secretly felt safe when he was around and she considered him to be the wisest man she ever knew.

Rebecca felt very grateful for Dumbledore since he still accepted her application for Hogwarts. After expulsion from Beauxbatons, she thought no school would take her anymore.

Besides, Dumbledore was the only person who actually believed and listened to her side of the story about what happened to her last summer, the darkest of her past.


	3. No Wandwork

**I'd like to thank those who've reviewed so far :) I'd also like to thank Harry Potter Wiki for the extra info about The Draught of Living Death.**

**Enjoy this chapter. R&R! ;)**

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3. NO WANDWORK

The next morning was a Monday. After breakfast, Rebecca, Bellatrix, Regulus and Severus were walking, going to their first class, Potions.

"Who's the professor for Potions class?" asked Rebecca, checking her schedule.

"Professor Horace Slughorn," Severus said automatically.

"Severus should know," Regulus explained to Rebecca, "He's a personal favourite of Slughorn's… aside from the Evans mudblood from Gryffindor, of course."

"What mudblood from Gryffindor?" Rebecca asked.

"Lily Evans. Girl with red hair… Head Girl."

"Oh, _her_. Yeah, I've met her."

"You have?" asked Severus.

"Yeah, before we went to Hogwarts, I had a meeting with Dumbledore and a few people, including the prefects. The Head Boy wasn't there, though."

Bellatrix, Regulus and Severus all scoffed.

"What's so funny?" laughed Rebecca, confused.

"The Head Boy's _bound _to not be there," explained Bellatrix.

"Why, who is he?"

"His name's James Potter," answered Severus, "filthy little toerag…"

"What's his house?" Rebecca faced Severus.

"Gryffindor."

Rebecca fell silent and then she said, "Oh."

"He's Sirius' best friend," said Regulus.

"Anyway, Lily Evans is Slughorn's other favourite? Aside from Sev, that is," clarified Rebecca.

"Yeah, she's amazing in Potions," Severus answered quietly and Rebecca looked at him incredulously.

"Did _you _just say that about a Gryffindor?"

Severus shrugged. "She and I used to be best friends."

"Oh my effing God," Rebecca rolled her eyes. "You were?"

Severus looked at her, a little offended. "Yeah. Something wrong with that?"

"Yes," Rebecca said frankly. "What happened to you guys?"

Severus shook his head bitterly and didn't answer.

"He called her a mudblood," Bellatrix answered for him.

"So?" asked Rebecca. "She _is _muggle-born, right?"

"She is."

"So what if Severus called her a mudblood? She is anyway."

"He called her a mudblood out loud. You know, for a lot of people to hear—"

Severus snapped, "Shut up, Bella."

"Ooh, you know you did, Snape," cackled Bellatrix.

"Really," Rebecca looked amazed, "That's _so _embarrassing… for Evans, that is."

The four Slytherins arrived in the Potions classroom just in time. Slughorn was already there and Rebecca, Bellatrix, Regulus and Severus were the last to enter.

"Please take your seats," Slughorn said. "I'd just like to welcome Ms. Johnson to Hogwarts—especially to my class."

Everyone in the room turned their heads to look at her. Rebecca smiled quickly at Slughorn but otherwise, she didn't say anything.

"Right then," Slughorn clapped his hands twice, "Let's get to work. I'd like all of you to take a look at your text books and brew me a curious little potion called The Draught of Living Death. Can someone tell me what kind of potion that is?"

A girl with fiery red hair raised her hand.

"Yes, Ms. Evans?"

"The Draught of Living Death is an extremely powerful sleeping potion that sends the drinker into a deep trance that mimics the state of death itself."

"Outstanding Ms. Evans!" Slughorn said proudly. "Five points to Gryffindor. Who in this room knows about the muggle story, the romantic tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare?"

A few students raised their hands, including Rebecca, Severus, Sirius and Lily.

"Have you ever wondered," Slughorn continued and the students put their hands down, "That the sleeping potion Juliet Capulet may have used could be The Draught of Living Death?" Slughorn said this with an aura of mystery in his tone.

"Now, can anyone tell me what potion _reverses _the Draught of—ah, yes, Mr. Snape?"

Snape said, "The Wiggenweld potion, sir."

"Right you are, Severus! Five points to Slytherin. Going back to our on-hands lesson, I'd like you all to brew me The Draught of Living Death. You will be working by pairs and _I _will be choosing your partner," he looked at the class pointedly.

Rebecca looked around. The only students who were there were from Slytherin and Gryffindor. _Oh, joy, _she thought sarcastically.

Slughorn arranged the class and the partners took their seats together. Everyone was put off with Slughorn's choices because he paired one Slytherin and one Gryffindor together.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Snape, partners," announced Slughorn.

Severus clenched his jaw and James rolled his eyes as they sat together.

"Mr. Pettigrew and Ms. Black."

Bellatrix smirked at Peter as he sat next to her, a bit frightened and nervous.

"Mr. Lupin and Mr. Black, you will be partners."

Remus and Sirius sat together right away, but Slughorn said, "Not you, Sirius. I meant Regulus."

"But, sir—" Both Sirius and Remus retorted.

"No buts! I said I will choose your partner."

Sirius grunted and got of his seat and his brother took it.

"Yes, Mr. Black—and I mean you, Sirius—you will be working with Ms. Johnson here."

Rebecca looked at Sirius and he looked back at her. They were doing another staring match. Again.

"Sit _down, _Mr. Black," Slughorn said.

"Yes, sir," Sirius tore his gaze away from Rebecca and sat down.

"Now, I'd like you all to open your books and start making the potion. All the ingredients you need are in the cupboard…" Slughorn droned on and the students started on the on-hands lessons.

"There will be _no _wandwork for the potion making, do I make myself clear? _No _wandwork," Slughorn put all the stress on the word 'no'.

Rebecca got her Potions book and looked at the page about The Draught of Living Death.

"I'll get the ingredients," Sirius muttered to her.

Rebecca pushed the book effortlessly to him so that he could see what he needed to get. Sirius read a while and then stood up and went to the cupboard.

"How're you doing there, Becca?" Regulus smirked. "Sirius getting on your nerves?"

Rebecca leaned on her chair, "I dunno. Let's see. He hasn't said much."

"Yet," Regulus added and laughed. Remus, who was beside him, secretly rolled his eyes. Unfortunately, Rebecca noticed him.

"What's the matter with _you?_" Rebecca said in a sharp tone to Remus. He glanced at her and just shrugged.

When Sirius was back, he put all the ingredients on their table and took a seat.

"Have you ever made this potion before?" asked Sirius casually.

Rebecca didn't look at him, but just nodded. "We did this in sixth year," she said flatly, "only, we were allowed to use our wands."

The two worked in silence, slicing and crushing up ingredients, mixing them in the cauldron and stirring.

The only ingredient left to add was the sophorus bean. Rebecca had a hard time slicing it because it was very small and it kept sliding.

"Damn this," she muttered silently.

Sirius glanced at her from the cauldron and said, "You need some help?"

Rebecca frowned and shook her head.

Finally, after five minutes of trying to slice up the bean, they added it as the last ingredient.

"Says here in the book it should turn clear as water—" said Sirius as he continued stirring, "I don't get it."

They both looked into the cauldron. The liquid inside looked like milk.

Rebecca grunted and ran a hand through her long, blonde hair. From the corner of her eye, she saw Severus struggling with James. But nevertheless, their potion was the most successful. It had already turned clear.

Rebecca frowned again and then asked Severus, "How're you doing that?"

Severus looked at Rebecca and Sirius' cauldron first before saying, "Did you slice the bean?"

"Yeah."

Severus shook his head. "You should've crushed it with the side of the dagger. It makes the juice come out better."

"Ugh," Rebecca ran a hand through her hair again.

"And you should've added a clockwise stir after every—"

"Yes, yes, I know that trick," Rebecca waved an airy hand.

Severus asked again, "Well, Did you follow all the instructions correctly?"

"Yes!" Rebecca said irritably, "I made sure of that."

"The wormwood was sliced into thin strips, the asphodel was crushed into powder—"

"Oh," Sirius suddenly said.

"What?" Rebecca snapped.

"I… I sliced the wormwood into small cubes."

"You idiot! Didn't you read instructions?!" Rebecca fumed. Severus chuckled and went back to his potion.

"If you hadn't been hogging the book from me then I would've seen that it should've been sliced into thin strips!"

They argued in whispers.

"You should've used your own book, for God's sake!" Rebecca answered back.

"I don't _have _my own book, Flourish and Blotts are still going to send it to me by Wednesday!"

"Then you should've borrowed one from the students' cupboard! Honestly, don't you think?!"

People started turning their heads to see what Rebecca and Sirius were arguing about.

"Ugh!" Rebecca pushed Sirius' shoulder hard. "I'll just correct it with the fastest way possible."

She took out her wand.

"You prat! Slughorn said no wandwork!" Sirius grabbed the other end of her wand.

"Stop touching it—" Rebecca warned.

"We're going to _fail _because of _you _if you use your wand!" Sirius said through gritted teeth as Rebecca tried to point her wand at the cauldron and as Sirius tried to direct her wand away.

"_You _started it! If you weren't so _stupid_ to confuse cubes from strips, now really—"

"You kept on hogging the book from me!"

"It's _my _book!"

"This is supposed to be _our _potion!"

Rebecca gripped on one end of her wand and Sirius was holding the other end firmly.

"You're the worst partner ever," both of them whispered to each other at the same time.

Rebecca and Sirius continued to wrestle with the wand. Their arguments were becoming louder and louder and finally, Slughorn walked up to them.

"Mr. Black, Ms. Johnson! What do you two think you're doing?" Slughorn asked.

Rebecca and Sirius froze and slowly looked up at Slughorn. "I clearly said _no _wandwork," he said. "Put that away. Five points from Slytherin and Gryffindor."

Rebecca rolled her eyes and Sirius opened his mouth argue but then closed it right away when he saw Lily looking at them, her eyes narrowed. The five points she had earned Gryffindor for answering Slughorn's question correctly was gone.

Severus as well, grimaced and glanced at Rebecca.

"Sorry about your points," Rebecca muttered to Severus who just grimaced and nodded. And then she snapped at Sirius, "Now, look what you've done!" They were still holding the wand.

"_Me?_" asked Sirius incredulously, "You were the one who took out your wand!" he laughed without humour.

"Well you're the reason why I took it out! If you hadn't stopped me from correcting the potion then we would've gotten away with it!" Rebecca whispered.

"I said _put that wand away, _Mr. Black and Ms. Johnson," Slughorn warned again.

Both Sirius and Rebecca sighed and slowly tried to calm down. Rebecca was about to tuck her wand in her robes but Sirius was still holding the other end.

"You can let go now, Black," she said bitterly.

Sirius took his hands off her wand and glared.


	4. The Thestral

**CaraGrace, I know, right. :)) She's supposed to be annoying. :-j But in this chapter, you'll see another side of her.**

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4. THE THESTRAL

"She's a pain, honestly, she is!" Sirius complained.

"Well… she is a bit… 'snappy'—" Remus grimaced.

James inquired, "Is she really that bad?"

"Trust me, mate—she is," Sirius warned.

James just chuckled, thinking his friends were exaggerating. The Marauders were inside Hagrid's hut, the Hogwarts gamekeeper. It was their free period and they were all making themselves comfortable and at home.

"I mean, seriously! You should've heard her talk to me earlier. It was _her _fault why I made a mistake and she kept blaming everything on me!" Sirius said as Fang, Hagrid's dog, put his head on Sirius' lap.

Peter said in an as-a-matter-of-fact tone, "Well, she _is _a Slytherin. They're all like that."

"Why can't she just be normal?!" Sirius almost shouted.

Remus rubbed his eyes and said, "For her, Padfoot, _that is _normal."

All of a sudden, Hagrid's voice boomed, "Now, c'mon, boys. Ya know Rebecca's all new! Make 'er feel at 'ome."

Both Sirius and Remus' eyes widened. "Hagrid, are you kidding us?" Remus laughed.

"Ya know I'm not! Listen—her expulsion must'a been 'orrible. I should know," Hagrid said importantly.

"Whether it's a student's fault o' not, when he o' she's expelled, it's the wors' thing that can happen to a young witch o' wizard."

The Marauders still didn't look convinced.

Hagrid continued, "Try an' be nice to 'er. Just because yer Gryffindors don't mean Slytherins are yer mortal enemies! Make a change, be the firs' ones! Who knows, Rebecca might be like ya in many ways."

"_Her?_ Like _us?_" Sirius demanded, "Her parents are death eaters!"

"Well, she ain't 'er parents now, is she?"

"And she's friends with Bellatrix, Severus and Regulus," added Remus calmly.

"She ain't them either! Don' go judgin' a person before ya know what he o' she's really like."

"I know what she's like, Hagrid," Sirius laughed without humour.

"You've on'y encountered 'er once, Sirius! It's jus' the start of the school year. She migh' still be really put off 'bout the whole Beauxba'ons expulsion thing—"

"Why was she expelled, Hagrid?" asked Peter.

Hagrid shrugged, "I don' know, Pete."

The Marauders looked at each other.

"An' you better not go out an' start askin' people!"

* * *

The Marauders left Hagrid's hut to go back to the castle, but they quickly changed their minds and decided to take a short walk in the Forbidden Forest instead.

They were just staying at the edge of the forest to keep safe and to have an easier time going back to class.

"We've got History of Magic next," Remus stretched.

"Noooo. That's the most boring class _ever,_" James groaned.

"So how're you and Lily now that you're both Head Prefects?"

James shrugged. "I'm trying my best, really, I am! But it's like she won't even come around. I know it's because I'm not an expert on what girls want but—"

"You can always ask me, Prongs," Sirius joked.

"Padfoot, have you ever fallen in love?" James smiled innocently.

Sirius frowned and chuckled, "No."

"Then shut up," James said and Remus, Sirius and Peter all laughed.

James, Remus and Sirius continued talking about Lily and Peter was just listening. Suddenly, he heard a whine of a horse and the sound of flapping wings.

"What's that? Did you guys hear that?" Peter asked, but none of his companions heard him or paid attention.

Peter stopped in his tracks and the other Marauders didn't even seem to notice—but Peter didn't care. He was naturally very curious and so he followed the sound he heard. He didn't even mind the fact that he was straying away from his friends and that he was going deeper into the forest.

Finally, Peter couldn't hear the voices of James, Sirius, and Remus anymore. He still heard the whining and the flapping, though—then a new sound came along.

He heard the sound of a girl's voice. Her tone had some sort of ring to it.

"C'mon—eat it, don't be afraid," the girl's faint voice said.

Then Peter saw it—there was an unusual type of winged horse. It wasn't that pretty, but it wasn't too ugly either. It had a skeletal figure and it had reptilian features. Peter wasn't sure who the girl with the winged horse was because she had her back turned towards him, but she had extremely long blonde hair.

The girl threw a chunk of raw meat in the air and the winged horse caught it and ate it.

"Hello?" Peter asked tentatively and moved forward. Funny, he wasn't afraid of the winged creature.

The girl didn't look at him but just continued staring at the strange horse.

"Hello," she replied.

At this point, Peter was already beside her. However, he didn't look at her face—he was so fascinated with the skeletal animal.

"What is that?" Peter muttered.

The girl said, "They're called Thestrals. Very gentle, actually, but people usually stay away from them because they're… well, they're different. Can you see them?"

"Yes, I can—why?" For the first time, Peter looked at the girl. He knew who she was. Rebecca Johnson was her name.

He saw a small smile curve on her lips that made her dimples show. He wasn't sure if that was a smile of amusement or of sadness. It was like a mix of both. "Only people who've seen death can see Thestrals. They're invisible to everyone else," she said.

"You… you've seen death?"

Rebecca glanced at Peter. "Just last summer," she muttered but didn't explain any further.

"Oh," Peter said reluctantly, not knowing what to reply, "Well, I've seen death as well."

Rebecca just nodded.

They both stared at the Thestral in silence. All of a sudden, Peter said, "My name's Peter Pettigrew."

Rebecca looked at him again and them smiled swiftly, "I'm Rebecca Johnson."

"I know. I—I mean," Peter flushed, "nice to meet you."

They shook hands.

"You as well," replied Rebecca. "You're seventh year?"

"Yes."

She glanced at her silver wrist watch and then said hurriedly, "We'd better get back to the castle. Free period's almost over."

They started walking out of the forest.

"What subject do you have next?" asked Rebecca.

"History of Magic," replied Peter, "It's very boring, believe me."

Rebecca chuckled, "I'll be ready for that, you can count on it."

Then, Peter asked, "How about you? What's your next class?"

"Well, we've got Herbology and we're supposed to meet in greenhouse five… I'm not really sure where that is, could you—?"

Peter nodded, "Sure. Just follow the pathway that's opposite the Quidditch pitch. You'll see the pitch right away 'cause it's so big. Anyway, turn right, then you'll see all the greenhouses in line. They'll have numbers, so you'll know."

"Thanks… Peter, right?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah."

"Speaking of Quidditch, do you know when the tryouts are?"

"You play?" asked Peter, impressed.

"Yeah," Rebecca waved an airy hand. "I was seeker back in Beauxbatons."

"Cool," Peter nodded, "Well, I'm not sure about the tryout dates for Slytherin… But James is the captain this year for our team, and he's holding tryouts on Friday."

"James?"

"He's chaser. James Potter."

Rebecca's smile faded away slightly. "You're a Gryffindor?"

Suddenly, Peter felt awkward. "Uhm. Well, yeah…"

"Uhm, I have to go," Rebecca checked her wrist watch again, "I'll be late for class."

She turned around then walked away.

"Bye," Peter called after her.

She turned her head around for a moment and quickly waved her hand, then she rushed to Herbology.

Peter walked faster than usual back up to the castle. If he wouldn't hurry, he would be late for History of Magic.

So, he finally met Rebecca Johnson. And he actually had a decent, civil conversation with her. She wasn't that bad.

_Maybe Sirius and Remus were just exaggerating,_ Peter thought. _But it felt all awkward when she asked if I was Gryffindor…_

_Well, maybe she was just surprised. Maybe she thought I was a Slytherin_.

Peter thought more. _Well, she's nice. I wonder what the others'll have to say—_

Peter reached for the doorknob of the classroom. He was panting slightly.

When he opened the door, Professor Binns was already writing on the blackboard. "Mr. Pettigrew," he said, "you're five minutes late."

"I'm sorry, Professor," Peter took a seat next to Remus, "I lost track of time."

"Very well," Professor Binns waved an airy hand. "I'll let it pass since it's the first day back. Anyway, onto our lesson…"

"Peter," Remus whispered as Professor Binns was talking, "why'd you disappear all of a sudden?"

James and Sirius also looked at Peter. "Where were you?" asked Sirius.

"I got distracted," Peter answered defensively. "I heard strange horse noises in the forest and I was curious so I followed it."

"What did you find?" James asked right away.

"Well, I saw a Thestral."

"You _saw _one?" James asked, amazed. "You've seen death, then?"

Peter nodded. "She told me they're invisible to everyone else… She's seen death, too."

James, Sirius and Remus all frowned.

"Who?" the three of them asked at the same time.

Peter looked back at them and hesitantly answered, "Well, when I got there, there was already this girl with the Thestral…"

"What girl? What's her name?" asked Sirius.

Peter shrugged and tried to say casually, "Rebecca."

* * *

**so she plays quidditch. :)) what an awesome girl. \m/**


	5. Transparent Pebbles

**this story is so interesting, even for me... and i already know what's gonna happen anyway. ;) HAHA. i'd like to thank Gia Garcia (Brianna Johnson) and Nikki Lucenario for helping me with YCLGN. :D they give me AWESOME ideas for the AWESOME plot of this AWESOME story. \m/ ;)**

**Oh, well. Enjoy. =)) R&R, people!**

* * *

5. TRANSPARENT PEBBLES

Sirius, James and Remus stared at Peter for a while. There was a quick moment of silence before Sirius blurted out, "Rebecca who?" with a poker face on.

Peter frowned. He knew Sirius knew which Rebecca he was talking about. Besides, there was only one Rebecca in the entire Hogwarts.

"Rebecca Johnson?" Peter said, "Duh."

"Well, how would I know?" scoffed Sirius. "It might've been Rebecca Wales or someone else!"

Peter looked stunned, "Rebecca Wales graduated two years ago." James and Remus stifled a laugh.

Sirius shook his head quickly, "Whatever you say," and he waved an airy hand.

James, Remus and Sirius all looked back at Professor Binns and the blackboard, disregarding the fact that they could barely keep awake in this History of Magic class.

Suddenly Peter said, "Rebecca plays Quidditch!"

All three heads turned to Peter. "What?" Sirius, James and Remus said at the same time in whispers.

"I said, she plays—"

"What position?" James and Sirius asked.

Peter shrugged, "Seeker. She was on the Beauxbatons Quidditch team before she got expelled."

Sirius had a faraway look in his eyes. "That means she was at the Quidditch Tournament last summer," he muttered.

"So?" asked Peter.

"Nothing. I just remembered Hera again, that's all… I mean, the Beauxbatons Quidditch team was required to attend the Tournament, it was in their curriculum."

"Okay," Peter whispered slowly, feeling as if Sirius' piece of information was highly irrelevant.

"Is she trying out for the Slytherin team, then?" asked James.

Peter nodded. "She even asked me if I knew when tryouts were."

"Wait, she asked you?" Remus frowned, "She actually _asked _you?"

Peter ruffled his hair, irritated. "Why do you guys question everything I say?" he half-laughed, "Is it _so _hard to believe that Rebecca Johnson may actually be… well, you know, nice?"

The three looked incredulously at Peter. "Yes," Sirius and Remus said at the same time.

"You know," Peter explained, giving up, "Hagrid was right all along."

"Well," James waved an airy hand. "I don't know Rebecca Johnson, so, I don't think this is any of my business."

Sirius' eyes narrowed. "Your time will come, James. Your time _will _come!" He half-joked.

"Now as we all know," Professor Binns said in his boring toned voice, "Elf magic was highly restricted to, well, elves, during these times… even nowadays, actually…"

"I'm going to _die _in this class," James groaned.

"Shut it, Potter, I can't hear what Professor Binns is saying!" Lily hushed James up.

James' eyes immediately brightened. "Oh, I'm sorry Lily, my love," grinned James. "Was I distracting you?"

"_Quiet!_" hissed Lily, "I'm trying to take down notes, can't you see, you conceited fool?"

James laughed, "How can you take notes in a class like this?"

"For your homework," James heard Professor Binns say, "I'd like you all to draw a timeline about the history of elves starting from the fifteenth century to our current century. Till, then, class."

The whole class stood up from their seats and left the classroom, going down to the Great Hall for lunch.

Lily was about to leave but James grabbed hold of her hand. Sirius grinned, Peter chuckled and Remus shook his head in dismay.

"Hold on, Lily," said James. "I've got something important to ask you regarding our prefect patrolling tonight."

"Let go of my hand, James Potter," Lily wriggled her hand out of James', "Whatever you have to ask me, it can wait _later—_when it's curfew and when we go out."

"We're going out?" James asked.

"_To patrol_," Lily narrowed her eyes.

"Go out with me, Lily."

Lily decided to play around for a while. "You know…" she smiled slyly, "I'd actually like that, Potter."

"Really?"

Lily chuckled and pinched his cheek, "Sucker."

"Gah! I knew it," James snapped his fingers.

Suddenly the door of the classroom opened.

Oh, what fate. It was Rebecca Johnson.

"Hey, Peter," Rebecca nodded with an expressionless face. Then her eyes rested on James.

"You must be James Potter, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain and the Head Boy at the start of term meeting who was _never there,_" her eyes didn't leave James.

Sirius and Remus didn't dare say anything.

"I know what you're all wondering about," she said in an intimidating way, "but you're all afraid to ask. Well, I've got stuff to do here in this classroom."

Professor Binns noticed Rebecca and said, "Ah! Ms. Johnson, there you are. Quick, we must—"

"Yes, Professor," Rebecca said right away.

Professor Binns bowed his head in what looked like a single nod and he headed to the small cupboard on the wall that nobody was able to open except the faculty and staff.

Rebecca looked back at Lily and the Marauders, "Well, you've all got great legs—let's see how they move," and she pointed them towards the doorway.

Lily, James, Sirius, Peter and Remus left the classroom one by one. "C'mon," Rebecca said, her American accent thick, "Get!"

When all five Gryffindors were out of the room, Rebecca closed the door.

"Yes, Ms. Johnson…" Professor Binns droned as he held a little jar filled with what looked like transparent pebbles.

"This is for you," he said.

"Why did Professor Dumbledore tell me to get it _here?_" she asked softly.

"Well, this is a curious little medicine and it needs very good taking care of—it's very fragile, so take care of it! A lot of people think this doesn't exist, but either way, other people think it does. This cupboard," Professor Binns pointed to the small cupboard on the wall, "has enchantments upon it so that it can only be opened by teachers, Mr. Filch, Rubeus Hagrid and Madam Pomfrey. This is where we keep all things that are too precious to lose, because no one," Professor Binns whispered, "_no one _would suspect the History of Magic classroom, of all places.

"Take it," he thrust the jar in Rebecca's hands and she felt like her skin was poured with ice cold water.

"Th-thank you, Professor," she stuttered, surprised by the cold feeling.

"Let's hope your condition will get better, Rebecca," he smiled and wrinkles showed on his pearly white ghostly face.

Rebecca headed for the door, "Thank you… again."

She left Professor Binns in the classroom and she headed to the Great Hall for lunch.

It really wasn't her choice to get the medicine that looked like transparent pebbles. It was her parents who insisted upon it.

Well, she never really liked her parents anyway, though they pampered and spoiled her immensely. Besides, even Dumbledore agreed with Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and Rebecca herself knew that her respect for Dumbledore was higher than that for her parents.

Professor Binns said before she left his classroom that he hoped her condition will get better. Well, him and everyone else who knew what was wrong with her.

But when it came to matters about her "condition"… she didn't even care. She didn't even want it to get better or anything.

Rebecca just wanted it to be over.

* * *

**Let's face it, Rebecca's mean. But she's also misunderstood... what do you guys think is wrong with her? /:)**


	6. Remus Meets Rebecca

**wowww. i'm so bored. :( anyway, R&R this chapter. haha, thanks. :D**

* * *

6. REMUS MEETS REBECCA

The next day was a Tuesday. That cloudy afternoon, the Slytherin tryouts were being held on the Quidditch Pitch. Regulus and Rebecca were both there.

Zed Foss was Slytherin's newest captain. He had dark black hair, a seductive face, and sinister eyes. He smiled rarely and he had a grayish tinge to his skin and he was very pale.

"Alright," he said in a smooth voice, "Let's get on with it."

He was Slytherin's best chaser and a lot of girls liked to swoon over him.

Some Slytherin students tried out for various positions. There were four boys and three girls who tried out for chasers, but only two, Jasmine Everard and George Cromwell, were taken in. Jasmine was quite tall and had short, straight hair. George was shorter and he had a windswept look, similar to James Potter.

There were a lot of Slytherins who wanted the position of a beater—probably because they'd like beating up something with their huge bat. There were ten of them, all in all, Regulus included. Two of the ten were accepted. Of course, Regulus was in, what with his talent on the broom, just like his brother. The other beater was Edward Emerson, the same beater as last year. Edward was Zed's best friend.

John Landon, Slytherin's keeper for five years straight, was the keeper again for this year.

And finally, the time came for the tryouts for Seeker. When Rebecca's turn came, Zed had his eyes on her.

"Mount your broom," he said.

Rebecca swung over, ready to fly.

"On my whistle," Zed told her, "get up in the air and catch the three balls that I've charmed to zoom around the pitch. Ready?"

Rebecca glanced at him and nodded. She didn't feel nervous at all. In Beauxbatons, their tryouts were more intense. They would have a real Quidditch game, and see who was the best among the players.

Rebecca heard the sound of Zed's whistle and she pushed off the grassy ground easily, liking the feel of fresh air slap on her face. No sooner had she realized that three balls were moving in mid-air in three different directions. They were about the size of a tennis ball, but slightly smaller and they looked like mini Quaffles.

The members of the Quidditch team sat on the bleachers and watched Rebecca go. She was pretty fast and had great balance. Her quick swerves were unexpected, something that Zed admired about how she played. Regulus had a smirk on his face, knowing that Rebecca would immediately get the spot for Seeker.

Her long blonde hair went with the wind and she looked like a goddess on the broom. By this time, she already caught the first two balls.

"She's good," Zed muttered to his best friend, Edward, who nodded.

Rebecca did a sharp dive and they thought she was going to slam onto the ground but as soon as the third ball was with her, she pulled over and gracefully landed back on the pitch.

She looked haughty—she knew she was good. The best of those who tried out, actually.

"Well," Zed smiled the smile people rarely see, "You're quite the flier."

Rebecca smirked back at him and dropped the three balls in Zed's pocket.

"You caught all the balls in three quarters of a minute. The fastest, I might say," he praised her. Zed was much taller than Rebecca.

He handed her green Quidditch robes and she took it knowingly. "I'll see you at practice on Friday," he winked at her and then left.

Rebecca smirked again and turned to Regulus, who was behind her.

"Well, that's a wrap, wasn't it?" she asked.

Regulus had his thumbs in the pocket of his jeans and said, "You were the best."

Rebecca chuckled, "C'mon, let's get out of here."

Soon, Rebecca and Regulus were walking down the halls, Quidditch robes in hand. They were supposed to head back to the common room.

Along the way, they saw Bellatrix and Severus.

"So, who're the new members of the team, aside from the two of you?" Severus asked in a bored voice.

"Jasmine Everard and George Cromwell are the two new chasers, together with Zed," Rebecca answered.

"Zed's the captain, isn't he?" Bellatrix asked as they walked.

Rebecca nodded and then continued, "Regulus, of course, and Edward Emerson as the beaters."

"That's expected," Severus side commented.

"John Landon's still the keeper, and _I'm _Slytherin's new seeker," she said confidently, comfortable with her three friends.

"Before the tryouts, a lot of people thought you would be the new seeker just because Zed fancies you," said Regulus, "but watching you today ought to teach them a lesson."

"Of course, no one knew you play so well," Bellatrix shrugged.

"No one but Peter, I suppose," said Rebecca.

"Peter Pettigrew?" asked Severus.

"Yes," she nodded, "And I know what you're thinking, Sev—'Oh no, it's one of those filthy Gryffindors again,' but actually, Peter's cool."

Severus ran a hand through his almost shoulder length hair and looked unconvinced, "If you say so."

As the four Slytherin friends turned around a corner, they passed by the four Gryffindor Marauders. Rebecca, Regulus, Severus and Bellatrix, however, paid no attention.

When the Slytherins were out of earshot, Sirius and James looked aghast.

"I don't believe it," Sirius said incredulously. "Regulus and Rebecca _actually_ made the team. _They actually made it!_"

Peter rolled his eyes, "Well, they _actually _might be good at it, you know."

"I need to know how they play," James said right away, "Zed Foss put up an interesting team this year, then… what with the new girl on his beloved team."

"I've heard even Jasmine Everard made the team!" Sirius exclaimed.

Remus, however, said, "But the Slytherins never have girls on their team."

"Exactly," Sirius and James pointed out.

"Guys," whispered Remus, "I _know _I've got a transformation tonight, but I've got to get to the library first—I've forgotten to return a book. And I can't tell Madam Pince, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't able to return the book because I had to turn into a werewolf the same night'."

"Oh, _alright_," Sirius sighed. "We'll wait for you on the grounds. Make sure you're there before the moon comes out!"

Remus walked a while to the library. When he got there, he quietly opened the door, but when he entered, Madam Pince wasn't around.

"Ugh," he groaned inwardly.

_I'll just put the book back in place, then, _he thought to himself.

He went to the shelf where he got his book and was about to put it in an empty slot when he noticed a tattered old book that was rather dusty and had an interesting title on the spine.

"'_Rare Healing Potions and the Proof of their Existence_'," Remus muttered, "That's a weird title."

He pulled the book out of the shelf and gasped when a saw a face on the other side of the book's empty slot. The face he saw gasped as well. He wasn't able to recognize her right away because she suddenly left.

Remus went to the other side of the shelf, looking for whoever he saw. And then he saw a person turning around a corner, with that distinct long, blonde hair, and all of a sudden, Remus knew who that girl was.

"Hey—wait!" she said, catching up with Remus.

"Are you going to borrow that book?" she asked fast. Remus opened his mouth to answer but then closed it again, surprised and taken aback by the way Rebecca sounded like when she wasn't being mean and snobbish.

"Uhm… no?" he answered uncertainly.

Rebecca didn't seem to recognize him as a Gryffindor. She laughed, "Is that an answer or a question?"

Remus stared at her, his lips parted and he handed her the book. "Here…" he muttered, "You can have it."

Suddenly, the grandfather clock in the library struck six o'clock. Remus said, "I—I've gotta go," and he turned around to leave.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Rebecca ran after him.

"Nowhere—but I've seriously gotta go, I'm gonna be late," Remus answered without looking back, feeling the slow pain of his transformation. He rushed out of library.

Rebecca just stood there, wondering. She looked at the book. It was entitled _Rare Healing Potions and the Proof of their Existence. _She softly blew on it and a layer of dust went into the air. She coughed and waved her hand in front of her face.

This book was just what she needed. But who was that boy? He looked familiar but she couldn't really figure out who he was and where she's seen him before.

Rebecca was supposed to ask him a little about that book. He looked as if he knew what it was about—or maybe she just thought he did. Well, either way, he looked smart and looked as if he could help her.

She left the library as well, clutching the book. It was from the restricted section.

_I'll find that boy again_, she told herself.

After all… she needed to know as much as she could about those transparent pebbles.


	7. Friendship

**this chapter was harder to write... it took me longer than usual to get a good enough idea. see? i work hard for you guys. LMAO. =)) **

* * *

7. FRIENDSHIP

Wednesday, the next morning at breakfast, everything was going as normally as it did everyday. The Marauders were at their usual spot on the Gryffindor table and Lily, surprisingly, sat next to James.

"Potter, will you listen to me for a while?" Lily complained for the third time. "You didn't show up for patrolling!"

James was distracted, "…no, Remus, it wasn't your fault, I—Lily? What is it?"

Lily looked at him, flaring. She asked through gritted teeth, "_Where were you when we were supposed to patrol?_"

James opened his mouth to answer but then closed it again. "I…psshh," he scoffed and ran a hand through his hair. "I…I'm sorry, Lily, I forgot about patrolling."

Lily stood up, "Patrolling is one of your duties, Potter! Why were you chosen as Head Boy if you would forget what you have to do?"

James pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't acting like his usual fun self.

Lily frowned, "What's the matter with you?"

"I'm sorry," James buried his face in his hands. He couldn't tell Lily the real reason why he wasn't able to patrol. "I forgot," he said.

"Well, you better be in the common room by nine tonight. Okay?" Lily asked in a softer tone, after she realized that James was having his own problems.

James nodded without lifting his face. Just when Lily turned around to leave, she felt a warm hand grip on her own. She turned her head, not surprised to see it was James.

"Lily?" he stared at her.

Lily swallowed. She felt like his touch on her hand was burning… in a good and in a bad way, "What?"

"I really am… sorry," he smiled gently. He knew Lily's weakness was sincerity. And he really was sorry, anyway.

Lily smiled back weakly but didn't say anything, and then she left for good.

James sighed and then turned back to his friends who were having a heated conversation.

"Please, guys," Remus insisted, "don't come with me anymore during full moon—I don't want any more injuries."

"Remus," Sirius said firmly, "We're your _friends._ We're supposed to be there for you. And we don't care if you might've broken a few of our bones… once or twice. I mean, Madam Pomfrey fixed us right away!"

Peter and James sniggered.

"It's not funny!" Remus complained and he banged his forehead on the table, giving up. He looked very pale today and he had dark shadows underneath his eyes. His lips were chapped and lacked colour and he had a lot of scratches and wounds on his face and arms.. Remus looked sore and ill.

He put his chin on the table and, by pure coincidence, the first person he saw was Rebecca Johnson who was talking to Severus Snape on the Slytherin table.

Remus remembered last night at the library when he met Rebecca. He stared and saw Rebecca glance at the Gryffindor table. Unfortunately, Rebecca caught Remus staring and she stared back at him. However, her eyes held no hatred. Her stare seemed to be saying, "I've seen you before."

Rebecca eyes Remus' wounds and his ill look. Her eyes narrowed and Remus immediately knew she suspected something.

"Becca, what are you staring at?" Severus asked.

She tore her eyes away from Remus. "That boy from Gryffindor—the one with dirty blonde hair… who is he?"

Severus looked over to the Gryffindor table and asked, "Which one?"

"The one sitting with Peter, the Potter boy and Regulus' brother."

Severus chuckled without humor. "Oh, _him. _That's Lupin."

"Lupin?"

"Remus Lupin. He's a werewolf."

Bellatrix and Regulus' eyes looked at Severus and Rebecca.

"A werewolf?" Rebecca frowned and Severus nodded.

"How do you know?"

"He doesn't," Regulus laughed. "That's just his theory."

"Why do you think he's a werewolf, Sev?" asked Rebecca.

"I kept an eye on him before because I got suspicious why he kept on disappearing at a regular time every month."

"What regular time?"

"Full moon," Severus said triumphantly.

"It was full moon yesterday, wasn't it?" Rebecca thought, "I met him at the library at around six."

Regulus, Severus and Bellatrix all frowned. "What happened?"

"I… didn't realize he was a Gryffindor. I thought I could ask him for some help about the book I showed you guys."

"You mean the one about rare medicines?" asked Regulus.

"Yeah, that one."

Regulus drank from his goblet, "How're the pebbles coming on, then?"

"They're _not _pebbles, Reg," Rebecca chuckled. "They're medicines. They just look like pebbles. They're really hard to swallow, though. I've choked on about three of them already."

"Why don't you just chew it, then?"

"Oh, I would if I wanted to break my teeth," Rebecca rolled her eyes.

"Well, how's it doing for you?" asked Bellatrix, "Any good at all?"

"I don't really see any difference. Nothing bad's happened to me anyway…"

* * *

"I think Rebecca knows," Remus muttered.

"What?" asked his friends.

"Rebecca. I think she knows about… about me."

"Why the heck would she know about you?" Sirius scoffed.

Remus looked at Sirius as if he wasn't realizing the obvious, "She's friends with Snape."

James, Peter and Sirius all thought for a while and then they all said at the same time, "Good point."

"I met her last night in the library… she tried catching up with me and stuff but I had to leave her for the—for the transformation," Remus whispered the last word.

"Why was trying to catch up with you?" asked Peter, curious.

"It seemed as if she needed some help with a certain book. I dunno. It was called _'Rare Healing Potions and the Proof of Their Existence'_."

"Why would she need that book?" Peter reached for his goblet.

Remus stared at the ceiling, "I have no idea."

Peter shrugged, "Well, I could just ask her. We all have Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins first thing today."

"How was it, Remus?" asked James.

"How was what?"

"Rebecca."

"Well…" Remus answered reluctantly, knowing how his James and Sirius might react, "Peter's right. She can be nice, I suppose."

Sirius looked grim, "I knew it."

"C'mon, let's just go," Remus stood up.

The four Marauder boys headed for the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom where Professor Adona was already present, and they took their seats.

Immediately following the Marauder boys were Rebecca, Regulus, Severus and Bellatrix.

Sirius nudged Peter and Peter blurted out a bit louder than needed, "Rebecca!"

Rebecca immediately looked at him with a poker face on. "Yeah…?"

"Uhm… could I have a word?"

Rebecca looked back at her friends and then turned back to Peter, "Yeah, sure."

Rebecca took the seat next to Peter and then she asked, "What?"

"Congratulations on making the Slytherin team…"

"Thanks," Rebecca chuckled, "Is that all?"

"I—have you heard about a book about rare healing potions?"

Rebecca's smile faltered, "Yes, I… borrowed one from the library last night."

"Oh," Peter acted surprised. He was quite convincing, "How come?"

"I needed to do some research," she explained, "Personal reasons."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Peter said quickly.

"No, no, it's perfectly fine, I—"

Rebecca stopped mid-sentence when she finally noticed Remus. "You're that boy from the library," she said tonelessly.

Remus waved awkwardly. "I'm Remus."

Rebecca's eyebrows shot upward, "Oh, _I know_," she chuckled darkly and then walked to sit with her own set of friends.

Remus watched her go, his mouth open, taken aback. He grabbed fistfuls of his wavy hair and looked deranged. "_Bloody hell, she knows!_" He whispered frantically to Sirius, James and Peter.

"Good morning, class," greeted Professor Adona before she began her lesson.

Meanwhile, Rebecca, Regulus and Bellatrix were whispering discreetly with each other. "I can't believe you're getting all—_all friendly _with those Gryffindors!" warned Bellatrix.

"I don't choose my friends," Rebecca whispered, her tone deadly.

"Oh, really now," Regulus cut in.

"Leave her alone, both of you!" Severus whispered, irritated. "I think it's perfectly fine if she has some friends from Gryffindor."

"Speak for yourself, Snape," said Bellatrix. "We all know you're in love with—"

"_Shut up!_" Severus eyes looked bloodshot, "And no, _I am not, _Bella.

"Becca," Severus faced Rebecca, "don't listen to those two. If you become friends with Gryffindors, then fine. It's your business and no one else's. You shouldn't care what others think."

Rebecca was silent for a while before she asked, "You and Lily were really close, weren't you?"

Severus leaned back on his chair, "Yeah. But I was younger before, and stupid—I messed it up. And when I finally realized that I had to fight for my friendship with her, it was too late."

Rebecca looked at him, "How come?"

"She wouldn't take me back anymore."

* * *

**R&R people. R&R. :)**


	8. Felix and Dates

**quite a long chappie. oh well, enjoy. sorry for the late updates. :D problems with the internet. :(**

* * *

8. FELIX AND DATES

The next day, James woke up at half past seven in the morning with a start. He had the weirdest dream about having the worst Quidditch tryouts of all time.

James sat up and checked the day—it was Thursday. Tomorrow was Friday, and lo and behold, he was holding Quidditch tryouts tomorrow. James got up, went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. He let his morning hair stay, so that he looked even more windswept. He slipped on his jeans and immediately headed to the Quidditch pitch.

"Prongs, where are you going?" asked Sirius, sleepy.

"To the broom shed on the pitch," James replied and Sirius shrugged.

"Suit yourself. Just don't be late for breakfast."

James rushed out of the Gryffindor common room and swiftly went down the staircases. He went out of the large entrance door and stepped on the grassy grounds, damp because of the morning dew. When he got to the pitch, he instantly headed for the broom shed. James had no particular reason for being there, it was just like he wanted to see the Quidditch equipment and everything else to be safe and in place for his tryouts tomorrow. One could say that James had an unhealthy obsession with Quidditch.

When he went inside the broom shed, he was taken aback when he saw Rebecca Johnson already in there.

"What are you doing here?" James asked automatically in a surprised tone as Rebecca put the snitch back in its box.

She didn't even care to look up to see who was there. She merely answered in a light tone, "I was just packing up."

"…What?" James asked uncertainly.

"I was practicing a little, just a few minutes before you came along," Then Rebecca looked up at the person whom she was talking to, "Oh, hello there, James," she smiled quickly at him, surprised as well.

James didn't know what to do or what to say. He didn't even know how to react. Rebecca Johnson just smiled at him. She actually smiled at him! _Rebecca. Smiled. At. Him._

_Did the world just go upside down? _James asked himself.

"Well, I'm gonna get back to the castle," Rebecca said with no eye contact, "See you around," and she brushed past him.

"Bye," James automatically said. As soon as she was gone, he just stood there, dumbfounded. He walked towards the box that kept the Quidditch balls and opened it—everything was there, the two bludgers, the quaffle and the snitch. James looked around. All brooms and bludger bats were in place, extra quidditch robes were neatly folded… nothing sinister, so far.

"Yeah, that's really weird," James said, "Was that really Rebecca? I thought she was all _nasty _and unbearable. Well, she _is _on good terms with Pete… she's talked to Remus in a civil way once or twice. And she actually was just _nice_ to me a moment ago!"

There was a moment of silence.

"Aaaand, I'm talking to no one but myself," James muttered.

* * *

"What the heck took you so long?" Regulus asked Rebecca in the Great Hall during breakfast.

"It took a little longer than usual for me to catch the snitch and put it back where it came from—plus, I met James Potter along the way," Rebecca added.

Regulus rolled his eyes. "You're taking Severus' advice a little more seriously than it was intended to be," he said.

Rebecca smirked, "That's what you think. Slytherin, Gryffindor—there's really no difference if we just gave each other a chance. I dunno why I never saw it before."

"_Oh_," Regulus nodded sarcastically, "Before you used to dislike Gryffindors. Now you like them. Care to announce that out loud?"

"Reg," Rebecca rolled her eyes, "Stop exaggerating. I used to dislike Gryffindors because of—well, stereotypes, you know. First impressions. The reason why you guys don't get any friends from Gryffindor is because you never let go of your first impressions—which are bad—and so, you turn out to hate them in the end."

"Are you saying you actually have friends from Gryffindor?"

"No. Not _yet_, at least," Rebecca chuckled, "Though, there is one, Peter Pettigrew."

"He's a loser," Regulus side commented.

"Whatever you say, Reg," Rebecca shook her head, "Whatever you say."

* * *

"I cannot believe this," James said as he sat down on the Gryffindor table, "Guess who I met on the pitch."

"Oh, this is easy," Sirius raised his eyebrows, "Rebecca Johnson, of course."

James stared. "How do you know?" he asked.

"It seems as if she's met every one of us. You were the only one left, Prongs."

Then there was a moment of silence.

"…No," James said slowly after thinking for a while, "You're the only one left, Padfoot!"

"No, I met her already, remember? I was the first to meet her out of the Marauders. _I_ was her partner for Potions," Sirius held out both his hands.

James immediately explained, "That's not what I mean. You're the only one left. As in, out of the four of us, you're the only one whom she hasn't talked to—_yet—_in a nice or a civil way."

Sirius frowned, "This is weird… we talk about Rebecca a lot, from the very beginning of term."

"I guess you could say we've got an unhealthy obsession about _the new girl_."

"Well," Sirius stabbed his food with his fork, "I don't think _little miss U.S.A. _would even care to talk to me, especially after our Potions mishap."

"You never know, Sirius," shrugged James, "Besides, your quarrel in Potions was such a small thing. She probably doesn't even remember it anymore. Just in case, though, make me this one promise. If you ever get the chance to talk to her in a nice or a civil way, make the most out of it. _Don't bite_."

Sirius laughed, "You're always so confident about stuff like these, Prongsie."

"That's because I always usually turn out right," James puffed out his chest, "especially when it comes to _you_ and girls."

Sirius pointed a finger at his best friend and poked James' chest, "You see—that's _exactly _why Lily hates your guts!"

"She does _not _hate my guts, for your information! In fact, she's been gradually warming up to me, if you must know," James replied heatedly.

"Whatever you say, James," chuckled Sirius, "Whatever you say."

By pure coincidence, Lily passed by Sirius and James. James said, "Hey, Lily! Wait up!"

"Potter," Lily turned around, "hi. Oh—thanks for showing up last night for patrol. Finally."

"Yeah," James smiled, "You can count on me. Uh… so, listen. Are you doing anything this Saturday? I mean, it's a Hogsmeade weekend—"

Lily raised her eyebrows, "Why do I have a funny feeling you're going to ask me out again, James Potter, like you always do on a regular basis?"

James chuckled, defeated. Lily actually thought it was kind of cute. "I was thinking—maybe we could… you know, hang out? Just as friends, if that's what you want," said James.

Lily stared at him a thought for a while. "Well, since you're so persistent—I mean, I have turned you down a lot. Maybe just one 'yes' won't hurt… well then, let's give it a go. I'll meet you at the entrance hall at five."

James grinned and touched Lily's shoulders, "Great! Well—see you later, then." He was thankful she didn't shrug him off.

"Yeah, bye," Lily replied, "See you, Sirius," she nodded in Sirius' direction.

"You as well, Miss Evans," Sirius smirked.

When Lily walked away, Sirius stared at James, "I cannot believe you, Prongs."

"Well, there you have it," James said triumphantly, "I'm actually surprised that went well."

"Let me get this straight. You _lower _your ego for Lily?"

James took a deep breath, "Yes," he admitted.

There was a moment of silence which was broken by Sirius' bark-like laugh, "That's genius, Prongs!" He ruffled James' already messed up hair.

James laughed with Sirius and then sighed afterwards, "I hope it'll work out this Saturday."

Sirius warned, "You better not screw it again."

* * *

Regulus ran a hand through his dark hair, emphasizing his handsome features even more. "So, listen," he said to Rebecca, "Ever heard of Hogsmeade?"

"Hogsmeade? No, sorry. What is it?" asked Rebecca.

"Only the most _awesome_ hang out place for witches and wizards like ourselves! Hogwarts students who are third years and up are allowed to go there on selected weekends."

Rebecca smiled. "What's in Hogsmeade, then? Tell me," she asked.

Regulus shrugged and said, "Everything. You just have to know where to look and where to go," he looked smug. "So anyway," he continued, "this Saturday's a Hogsmeade weekend. Fancy coming? Sev and Bella will be there, too."

"Sure," Rebecca chuckled, "I'm up for some fun."

Regulus raised an eyebrow, "You want fun?"

Rebecca nodded once. "And what do you suggest, Mr. Black?" she asked in a mocking formal tone.

"Felix," answered Regulus, "It's a great place to just… _have fun_."

"Who are the kind of people who go there?"

Regulus waved an airy hand, "Well," he said, "you won't see anyone lower than a sixth year there."

"Only sixth and seventh years, then? From Hogwarts?"

"From Hogwarts," Regulus nodded. "But," he added, "generally, let's just say the people who go there are old kids and young adults. You can put it that way," he smirked.

"What can we do there in Felix?" Rebecca leaned forward on the table.

"Eat a bit," Regulus shrugged, "Drink. Dance. Have fun."

"Any alcohol?"

"Only if you want. So," said Regulus, "you up for it?"

"I am _so _up for it, Reg," laughed Rebecca.

* * *

"So where do you plan to take Lily?" Sirius asked James.

"Probably somewhere quiet and romantic, I guess."

Sirius asked, "Not going hardcore this time, then?"

"Maybe not," James answered uncertainly, "But I don't know, maybe she'll be okay with something on the wild side."

"Speaking of 'the wild side'…" Sirius trailed off.

James raised an eyebrow, "Where do you think you're going, Padfoot?"

Sirius raised both his hands in a defensive manner, "It's not just me, Prongs, mate. Even Moony and Wormtail are going."

James frowned, "How come I don't know about this?"

"Because," Sirius answered slowly, "the three of us were betting on whether or not you'd get a date with Lily."

James laughed, "You guys are betting on my love life?!"

"Well, yeah—"

"That's not the point," James cut off Sirius while laughing, "I'll just ask Lily if she'll be okay with going somewhere… somewhere noisier, I guess. So where're the three of you guys going to this Saturday?"

Sirius shrugged, "Felix."

James slapped a hand on the table, "I love that place!" he almost growled, "You going with a girl?"

"Oh, yeah, _a girl,_" Sirius thought, "Hold on a sec." Sirius looked around the Gryffindor table and saw a girl with fiery red hair. "You there!" He called her attention, "Fancy going to—oh sorry, Lily, I didn't know that was you—"

"_Sirius!_" James hissed.

"Okay, no redheads, then, fine," defended Sirius. He looked around again and saw a girl with long, straight brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. "Oy! You!" he said.

The girl looked at Sirius and smiled. "That's a sixth year," whispered James.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Sirius winked at her.

"Terra," she answered confidently.

"Awesome. You're going with me on Saturday to Felix," said Sirius, "Meet me at the entrance hall at five."

The girl nodded quickly and blushed, then turned to her friends and they started whispering while grinning madly.

James stared at Sirius, "I don't believe you," he said incredulously, "You've got to stop doing that!" he laughed.

"Look, it's nothing serious—no pun intended," Sirius chuckled. "It's just a date," he said, "Relax."

"When are you going to find the right girl? Do you _want _to grow up _old_ and _single?_"

"Shut up," Sirius shook his head and grinned, "The right girl will come when the right time will come," he said wisely.

"Suit yourself, Padfoot," James waved a hand, "Suit yourself."

* * *

**so many scene changes, LOL! =)) R&R. :)**


	9. What Broom Closets Can Do

**hmm. well, i'm not exactly happy with the way i wrote this chapter. it seems a bit fast... but please: READ SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY. it may seem fast, but THIS HAPPENS AT A MUCH SLOWER PACE. :) R&R, please. ;)**

**Btw, I'd like to thank those who've reviewed recently:**

**_hpaddict, CaraGrace, Naflower05, Jade Lammourgy, *blink*, Joelle8, elleyou and MarauderMadnessMwahaha. _**

**THANKS, GUYS! :)**

* * *

9. WHAT BROOM CLOSETS CAN DO

The next day, Sirius and James were walking down the Quidditch pitch for tryouts. From afar, they saw some Gryffindor students and some Slytherin students having a heated conversation. As the four Marauders drew closer, they heard the intimidating voice of Zed Foss.

"We're using the Quidditch pitch today for our first practice," Zed said, "You Gryffindors can't just go barging in here without our permission!"

"Your permission?" Angus Arturo, the Gryffindor beater for five years straight said, "James booked this pitch for our tryouts today. Besides, a notice was put up by Mr. Filch that official Quidditch practices begin next week!"

"Who listens to Filch, Arturo?" Regulus sneered, "You try answering that question."

"That's not the point—" a girl named Brianna Connor tried to cut Regulus off.

"Well," Zed frowned, "Why don't you just tell your _beloved captain James_ that we—the Slytherin team—are using the pitch today?"

"Tell him yourself, Foss," James said in a loud voice, glaring. Everyone went silent. "These Gryffindors are here for their tryouts. Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch were the ones who signed the notice about official practices being held starting next week. Now if you didn't book this pitch, Foss, which I doubt you did, then I'm going to have to give you detention. But if you've got any problem regarding this, why don't you Slytherins just march into the castle and argue with McGonagall and Hooch themselves?"

Zed Foss glared at James.

"Knock your selves out," said Sirius.

There was a moment of silence before Rebecca said in a soft, tinkling voice, "C'mon Zed, let's go. We'll just have our practice next week."

Zed tore his eyes away from James to look at Rebecca.

"C'mon," she said again as she grabbed hold of his forearm, "let's go."

And the Slytherin team went off.

Rebecca brushed past Sirius and James but paid no attention to them. The two boys, however, looked after Rebecca.

There was another moment of eerie silence before Angus said in his Scottish accent, "Sometimes, I think we sort too soon." He sighed.

"Alright, everyone," James announced, "the tryouts will go like this…"

James continued talking. Sirius, intrigued, asked Angus, "What do you mean, 'we sort too soon'?"

"I'm talking about that Rebecca Johnson," replied Angus.

"What about her?"

"Before you guys got here, Rebecca was trying to convince her team to just move practice next week."

"She was?"

Angus nodded, "She was. Pretty challenging though, you could see it in her face…"

"I don't really look at her that much," Sirius said.

"Try observing her more often. You'll find that she's not exactly like a Slytherin," said Angus but Sirius gave him a look, "Well, she is… but only on the surface."

Sirius shook his head, "Do you _know _her, Angus?"

"Not really," Angus shrugged, "but I've got this friend in Beauxbatons who does."

"Why was she expelled from that place?"

"I'm not really sure, to tell you the truth."

Sirius asked, "Can you ask your friend from Beauxbatons?"

"Sure," Angus said, "I'll write to him when I can."

James clapped his hands thrice to signify the start of tryouts, "Okay, guys! Let's get this started!"

* * *

Later that day, Rebecca was walking down a hallway alone. She had just come from the library and one of her friends pointed to her a shortcut to the Slytherin common room. However, she wasn't that familiar of the shortcut and so she took her time looking about.

Suddenly, she heard some sort of banging on a door of a broom closet. Taken aback and curious, she walked slowly towards it and held her hand aloft to open the door knob. Before she even turned the knob, the door suddenly burst open and a girl came running out laughing. Rebecca recognized her as Brianna Connor, one of the Gryffindors from the Quidditch pitch that morning.

Rebecca turned around in Brianna direction. _What the hell was she doing in there? _She wondered.

Suddenly, a pair of hands slipped on her waist and a boy said in a gruff voice, "Gotcha! Come back here, Brianna!"

Rebecca gasped loudly before being pulled inside the dark closet.

"You're not gonna play tag-you're-it with me this time, sweetheart," the unknown boy said as he roughly pulled Rebecca closer to him. In fact, they were so close, they could've been conjoined twins.

"Get your hands off of me, jerk!" Rebecca slapped the boy.

"_Ow!_" The boy said in pain. "What the bloody hell was that for?!"

"Lumos," both Rebecca and the boy cast their spells at the same time.

The boy looked shock. "Rebecca?"

Rebecca had the same look on her face as she called out the boy's name, "Sirius?"

They both glanced at the broom closet's door as they heard the hall outside being filled with students. Rebecca immediately turned the lock.

"What the hell are you doing here?" hissed Rebecca as she glanced at Sirius' bare torso, "And half naked as well?"

"For your information," Sirius said through gritted teeth, "Brianna Connor was with me a while ago."

"Yes, that's quite obvious after I saw her running out of this closet with an after sex look!"

Sirius looked affronted, "I did not shag her!"

"_Shag?_" Rebecca looked repulsed, "What in the name of virgins is that? Some sort of contagious disease?" She scoffed at him.

Sirius defended himself. "I was talking to her," he said unconvincingly.

"Talking? Now really," Rebecca almost laughed. "You're not a very good liar. Tell me, Black, how many times have you done this? You know, treat girls like Kleenex tissues?"

"Kleenex tissues?" Sirius frowned.

"Clean tissues you just blow your nose on and then throw away afterwards. Huh?" Rebecca looked smug, her ego coming through.

Sirius pointed a finger at her, "_That_ is none of your business."

"It is since I'm here in a broom closet, stuck with you. Not that I like it very much."

"Well, why don't you just get out?" Sirius gestured her to the door.

Rebecca smirked at him, "I could if you let go of my waist."

Sirius narrowed his eyes and let go of Rebecca. "Now, get out," he said.

"I could if there were no people in the hallway right now," Rebecca said, "What would they think if they saw me coming out of here with _you?_"

There was a moment of silence before Sirius sighed and then said, "You're right."

"Yes, I am," Rebecca replied quickly.

"We're gonna have to wait for the hall to clear out."

There was another moment of awkward silence. "So you did Brianna?"

Sirius glanced at Rebecca. "No," he said.

Rebecca sniggered, "No, or not yet?"

Sirius sighed and replied through gritted teeth, "_Not yet_."

"Well, at least you admit it," Rebecca said triumphantly.

Sirius sighed again and then ran a hand through his hair, much like his brother, Regulus. And then he said pointedly, "Look. Can we just start over? I'm stuck here in a closet with you for God-knows-how-long and I personally think this would be much easier if we got along with each other."

Rebecca nodded once.

"I mean, I can feel _my sperm_ dying inside of me one at a time with every bickering I have with you," Sirius said, "Hi. I'm Sirius." He held out his hand.

"I'm Rebecca," Rebecca took Sirius' hand and shook it.

There was another awkward moment. The broom closet was so small that Rebecca and Sirius stood very close to each other, their faces inches from one another. They could smell each others' scent.

"This is so uncomfortable," Rebecca shook her head.

"I know," Sirius replied immediately.

"This place is so small I can't feel my legs."

Sirius sniggered, "I can."

"Shut up," Rebecca shot him a look. "Put on a shirt, will you?"

"I can't," Sirius said slowly through gritted teeth, "It's with Brianna."

Rebecca chuckled and looked at Sirius incredulously. They were beginning to warm up to each other. "Is she your girlfriend or something?" she asked.

"No, not even close," Sirius chuckled as well. "Okay, look," Sirius said after a while, remembering his promise to James, "I'm gonna have to say I'm sorry. For arguing with you over small things."

"Me too," Rebecca nodded once. She was a head shorter than Sirius. She looked up at him and said, "God, you're so tall. I never noticed. I would forget you're Reg's brother."

"I'm not _that _tall," chuckled Sirius, "You're just small."

"Ugh," Rebecca said and slapped Sirius bare arm.

"_Ow!_"

"Sorry."

There was a moment of silence before Sirius said, "This is good. This is healthy. I think we're bonding."

Rebecca looked slowly up at Sirius, disbelieving. "You're unbelievable," she chortled.

"That's what they all say," Sirius said with a sigh.

"Ssh!"

"What?"

"I said ssh!" Rebecca hushed him up. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Sirius frowned, "I can't hear anything."

"That's the point," Rebecca pressed her ear to the door, "It's quiet outside."

"Let's get out of here," Sirius said hurriedly.

Rebecca slowly opened the door and looked around. The hall was empty.

Sirius and Rebecca stepped out of the broom closet. Rebecca looked at Sirius. He was rather attractive. And he was bare-chested right now so his well muscled torso, thanks to Quidditch, was quite a view.

"Yeah," Sirius waved an airy hand, "They give me that look when I'm half naked."

Rebecca looked at him incredulously. Who else has an ego as big as Sirius'? Oh, that's right. She does.

"I'll see you around," Rebecca laughed.

"See you," said Sirius.

"Seriously, put a shirt on. You're going to take away someone's innocence if you keep that up."

Sirius winked at Rebecca, "I think I already did," he said.

And then they parted ways, each heading for their own common room.

* * *

**i can just imagine them. they're so adorable together! :") btw, I know you guys are excited for the party the characters will go to in Felix, but don't fret, that's gonna be in the next chapter! =))**


	10. Oh, Brother

**hey there, guys. :D i apologize if you find this chapter a bit confusing. i was writing it while doing other things like playing cafe world on facebook (lol, i'm such a dork) and listening to the cactus cuties on youtube sing the star spangled banner. they're awesome! so talented, go check them out.**

**last week, i went to a place somewhere similiar to felix with my girl friends. :D the flashing lights, the place vibrating, even the dancing, i've experienced it all. SO MUCH FUNN! but i didn't have any alcohol because it's against the law since i'm under 18. :)**

* * *

10. OH, BROTHER

Bellatrix and Rebecca were walking down the streets of Hogsmeade. Today was a Saturday, and they were heading down to Felix, where they were supposed to meet up with Regulus and Severus. The two girls looked rather nice today in their casual outfits. Bellatrix had a girlier look and she wore a short skirt with a nice, dark top. She had a small ribbon in her half-ponytail and her curls dangled behind her head. It wasn't everyday that she looked like this, and so Rebecca told her she should try that look more often.

"You look really cute, Bella," Rebecca laughed.

"This is just for today," Bellatrix shrugged, "You know, since we're partying and all."

Rebecca, however, had a more boyish look. She liked to wear hats, but Bellatrix told her not to today since Felix would be a little dark. Rebecca was wearing black Capri trousers that hugged onto her hips nicely, sneakers, and a white sleeveless, simple top with a few glitters on the front. She wore her hair in a ponytail and left some of her locks hanging, framing her face.

"Don't you ever think of getting a hair cut?" Bellatrix frowned.

"No," Rebecca said firmly, "I like keeping my hair long."

To say that Rebecca's hair was long was an understatement. It was much longer than _that. _Rebecca treasured her hair very much and she maintained it well. It was the first thing that would bring attention to her, and she knew that.

The streets of Hogsmeade were quiet today, for some strange, unknown reason, but as the two girls entered through the doors of Felix, loud music blasted into their ears. There were a lot of colourful lights flashing here and there and the place was practically vibrating because of the music.

"Well, hello there," Regulus placed his hands on Rebecca's bare shoulders and spoke near her ear. "Glad you could make it," he said.

Rebecca whirled around, "Where did Bellatrix and Severus go?"

"Oh, somewhere," Regulus waved an airy hand, "It's hard to keep track of someone in a place like this. Care for something to drink?"

"Sure."

Regulus grabbed Rebecca's hand and they sat on a comfortable, low couch.

"Hey," Rebecca looked over at the other side of the room, "Is that your brother and his friends?"

"Yeah, don't mind them."

"Who's that girl Sirius is with?" Rebecca asked and Regulus gave her a weird look.

"Have you become friends with him?" he asked.

"So, so," Rebecca did not elaborate.

"Well," Regulus answered, "That's some girl called Terra… I don't know her last name. She's a Gryffindor, and a sixth year."

Rebecca raised her eyebrows, "Oh."

"Have you heard?" Regulus chuckled and put an arm around Rebecca, "Potter finally scored a date with Evans."

"Really, now?" Rebecca said distractedly as Regulus handed her a glass.

Rebecca looked at the glass. The content was pink and the glass rim had salt on it.

"What is this?" she asked Regulus.

"Margarita," said Regulus.

"Margarita? I've never heard of that."

"Of course not. It's a muggle drink. They have it here because a lot of us wizards find the taste good," and Regulus drank.

Rebecca looked at Regulus and drank the Margarita. It was actually good, and the salt balanced the taste of slight bitterness. Rebecca looked over to the other side of the room again and Sirius and his friends were still there, having drinks as well.

Sirius, on the other side, saw Rebecca. He looked back at her at nodded his head once to say hello. Rebecca nodded her head back at him.

"Padfoot, what're you gawking at?" Remus asked as Terra sat on Sirius' lap.

"…Is that Rebecca with Regulus?" he asked slowly. "Over there, on the other side of the room. Sitting on the couch."

"Yeah, I guess so," Remus said. "That's definitely them."

"Let's dance, Sirius," Terra giggled and pulled Sirius, who was still holding his own glass of Tequila, up on his feet.

Sirius moved with the beat of the music absentmindedly and Terra kept on giggling and grazing his shoulders with her hands. It was starting to annoy him.

Sirius glanced over to the other side of the room where Rebecca and his brothers were and he was repulsed to see Regulus suddenly kiss the side of Rebecca's neck. "What the—"

"C'mon, Sirius, move! Is that all you can do?" Terra teased. "So weak!"

Meanwhile, Rebecca gasped as she felt Regulus' sudden kiss. "Reg! What're you doing?"

"It's a party, Becca," Regulus said carelessly, "Things happen. Let the wild side of you out. I know it's there somewhere. Here, have another Margarita."

"Hey there, Becca," Rebecca heard Severus' voice.

"Hey, Sev," said Rebecca, "Where's Bella?"

"Somewhere," Severus waved an airy hand. And then he glanced at the table in front of Regulus and Rebecca and his eyes widened, "Whoa, how many glasses have you had?"

"That's not me," said Rebecca, "It's all Regulus. Is this stuff strong?"

"Not much… actually, it depends on the drinker," Severus sat on the couch as well so that Rebecca was in between two boys. "But looking at all those empty glasses, it's easy to see that Regulus'll be completely drunk within an hour."

Rebecca's eyes widened.

"No, don't worry about him," Severus said simply. "Just don't let him get into your trousers," he chuckled.

"C'mon, Becca, let's dance," Regulus pulled Rebecca on her feet, and led her to the dance floor. He hugged her waist and she reluctantly put her arms on his shoulders.

"Move!" Regulus laughed. Rebecca looked back at Severus who gave her an encouraging look and Rebecca started to dance like no one's seen before. She was beginning to have fun at its fullest, just dancing there where she felt she belonged. The flashing, colourful lights were making her go into a trance and it made her feel drunk. She had taken in quite some amount of alcohol and she could feel it starting to have its effect.

As she laughed with Regulus and sang carelessly with the music, her back bumped into someone. She turned her head around and saw Sirius. "Hey, Black," she smiled.

"Hey there, Johnson," Sirius smiled back. Rebecca eyed Terra.

"Who's with you this time? No Brianna Connor?" she teased.

"Shut up," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Rebecca, this is Terra. Terra, Rebecca."

"Hi," Terra said shyly, however, Rebecca noticed.

"Not so shy on the dance floor, now are you, sweetheart?" Rebecca smirked and wiped the smile off Terra's face.

"Thanks," Sirius whispered. "She was beginning to annoy me."

Regulus pulled Rebecca closer.

"He's drunk," Sirius warned.

They lost each other in the dancing crowd and Sirius and Terra sat back down on the couch. "So what's up?" asked Peter.

"I saw Rebecca," answered Sirius.

"You're finally friends with her, then?"

"So, so," Sirius shrugged. He never told any of his friends how he and Rebecca met.

"That's great!" Peter patted Sirius on the back.

"Hey, you're not drinking much today… anything the matter, Padfoot?"

"No, nothing, Wormtail. I won't take the risk of being drunk… not tonight at least."

Peter sipped his drink. "Why?" he asked curiously.

"Just in case," Sirius did not elaborate, "Just in case, Pete." He stared at Rebecca and Peter noticed.

"Hey, uh," Peter said slowly, "Rebecca's real pretty… don't you think so, Padfoot?"

It took a while before Sirius answered. And then he sighed and said, "She is."

Peter took one look at Rebecca and saw that Regulus was all over her, clearly drunk. "Wow," said Peter, "her first open party here in Felix and she's got two more guys panting over her."

"Two?"

"Yeah," Peter laughed. "Is she Regulus' girlfriend or something?"

Sirius chuckled darkly, "I hope _not. _That's gonna be the kiss of doom, if you ask me." Suddenly Sirius frowned, "What do you mean she's got two more guys panting over her? Regulus and who else?"

Peter chuckled and ruffled Sirius' hair playfully, "You, of course."

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**before you guys go, i'd like to take the chance to thank some recent reviewers: _hpaddict, bluekiwi95, Jade Lammourgy, Naflower05 _and _Axellefish. _:)**

**R&R, please! :) Just press that button down below. :D**


	11. Epiphanies

**i really shouldn't be using the computer during school days! well, you guys are lucky because i've got no homework. :) anyway, i'm quite happy you people find the previous chapter good. what a relief! LMAO. =)) anyway, enjoy chapter 11!  
**

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11. EPIPHANIES

"Well, good morning, my fine friend," James said as Sirius slowly got up from his bed.

Sirius rubbed his eyes and asked, "What time is it, Prongs?"

"Twenty past ten in the morning," James grimaced. "We've missed breakfast," he said.

"I don't care. How long have you been awake?"

"Just a few minutes before you got up, actually," James grinned then said, "Don't you want to know how it went with Lily yesterday?"

Sirius' eyes suddenly widened. "Oh yeah!" he gasped, "Tell me all about it."

"Well, she said 'no' to Felix, obviously," James rolled his eyes. "She wanted to go somewhere calm and quiet. So we stayed at Madam Puddifoot's—"

"Madam Puddifoot's?" scoffed Sirius, "That's a sissy date place."

"I had no other options," James stated firmly. "Whatever makes Lily happy, okay? Anyway, we talked about ourselves there. Mainly, our interests… our likes and dislikes."

"But that's so boring," Sirius said flatly.

"Can you be a little more supportive, Padfoot?" James complained. "I asked her why she never wanted to go out with me before."

"Oh, this is interesting," Sirius shifted positions, "What did she say?"

"She said that she actually considered going out with me before… you know, she's close with Alice, and Alice is with Frank, and I'm close with Frank, so Frank tells Alice some nice stories about me sometimes, Lily told me."

"So?"

"So," James rolled his eyes, "obviously, Alice tells Lily things about me. Therefore, Lily considered going out with me before. But of course, that was around the time that I took a break from asking her out every other day because I was beginning to think it was annoying her—"

"Oh, it was?" Sirius teased with sarcasm.

"—so, all this time, she just waited for me to give another shot at asking her out again. She said she's sorry if she's ever put me off!" James said triumphantly. "And she also said that she was glad I asked her out, and that she was glad she said yes."

"Bloody hell, she did?!" Sirius laughed hysterically, "That's the most epic thing I've heard! I never thought the day would come when Lily—Lily Evans!—would say that to James Potter."

"_Anyway_," James said slowly, pointedly, "after Madam Puddifoot's, we went for a quick visit to Honeydukes. We just bought some sweets and I told her about the secret passage there that leads to the one-eyed witch on the third floor—"

"You told her about _our _passage?!" Sirius almost shouted.

James sighed, "Let it go, Padfoot. Let it go."

"But—but—you told her!"

"She's not gonna go shouting about it! Look, if I'm going to be with Lily, you're going to have to trust her as well."

"…you're with Lily?"

James looked sheepish. "Not yet," he shrugged.

There was a moment of silence. "And so what else happened?" Sirius asked.

"Well, we went horseback riding," James replied.

"Horseback riding? In Hogsmeade?" Sirius looked skeptical.

"We bumped into Rosmerta—you know, the young ten year old of the owner of The Three Broomsticks?" James asked and Sirius nodded. "Well, she kept on ranting about some horses with no owner that she saw in the meadows. Lily and I figured that she was actually serious and so we checked it out for ourselves."

"How did you find those horses, then?"

"She described them to be just between the _Meadows of Joy_ and the _Valley of Contentment_," James did some sarcastic Jazz hands.

Sirius snorted, "She's ten, for God's sake!"

"Oh, who cares? At least the horses were for real." James thought for a while before saying, "Well, how about you? How did Felix treat you?"

"Guess who I bumped into there," Sirius wiggled his eyebrows.

James immediately knew who Sirius was referring about, "Rebecca Johnson! Bloody hell, finally!" he punched the air. "Are you two friends already?"

"So, so."

"How did you meet?"

"In a broom closet," Sirius answered.

James' jaw dropped. "_A broom closet? _Sirius, you can't be serious! No pun intended," James chuckled.

"It's not like that!" Sirius raised his hands defensively, "I was in the broom closet with Brianna. She ran out and for some reason, Rebecca was _strutting by _near that particular broom closet and I grabbed her instead of Brianna. I almost made out with her, thinking she was someone else! I almost made out with Rebecca, James!" Sirius said, horrified.

"You act like you don't like it," James teased.

"That's because I don't."

"Says you."

"Whoever said I fancy her?!"

"The student body," James grinned.

"_Since when?!_"

"Since that night at Felix! That's why I want to know what happened, what everyone's ranting on about right now. You and Rebecca Johnson are the new 'it' couple!"

"I don't fancy her, James." Sirius concluded.

James coughed loudly and it Sirius thought he heard the word, 'Denial'. Sirius just rolled his eyes and let his head fall back on his pillow again.

"Oy! Get up, Padfoot. Tell me about Felix," said James.

"The usual, James! Eating a little. Loud music. The whole place vibrates. Terra's annoying flirting—I swear, I'll never go out with her again. Ever."

James chuckled and Sirius continued, "Drinking. Regulus got drunk, by the way."

"No surprises there," James shrugged. "Was Rebecca with her usual Slytherin posse? Regulus, Bellatrix and Snivellus?"

"Yeah, them. She's quite nice… fine, I admit it. It's fun to talk to her and spend time with her, it's just that, it's so difficult to do that because she's always with her conceited Slytherin friends!"

"See?" James said comfortingly, "You do fancy her."

"_I never said I fancy her!_"

"That's always the first stage, Sirius. Denial. You're acting like Lily before she went out with me. _Exactly _like that. And now, look where fate brought Lily and I," James had a dreamy look in his eyes.

"_Fate_," Sirius scoffed. "If there's such a thing, then someone's got it in for me up there," he pointed to upward, referring to the heavens, "I bet it's my mother."

"So what else happened in Felix?"

Sirius cleared his throat, "There was a lot of dancing. I think last night was the craziest and wildest I've seen! And you have no idea how _awesome _Rebecca looks like when she moves."

James said nothing but nodded knowingly at Sirius. "A compliment doesn't mean I fancy her, James," Sirius narrowed his eyes.

"I dare you to compliment her in person."

"Now is not the time for dares!" Sirius sat up, "Now is the time for stories."

"You're a sissy—"

"Do you want me to tell you the story or not?!"

"Okay, okay! Tell me," James said.

"Well, as I said earlier, Regulus got drunk and Rebecca was with Regulus a lot. Of course, I couldn't really approach her much since she was with my demon for a brother but I kept a close watch on her, in case things got dirty and out of hand. Peter said I was panting over her—which I'm not—and that Regulus was as well. And he seriously was, you should've seen it, James! He was all over her. I hate it when he's drunk."

"Aww," James squealed like a girl.

"What do you mean, 'aww'?" Sirius grimaced.

"You're protective of her. That's so romantic, Padfoot!" James pretended to wipe fake tears.

"Shut up—" Sirius half-laughed.

"And you chose to keep a close eye on her rather than enjoy the party at Felix with your date like you always do!" James said dramatically.

"I enjoyed the party like I should, okay?" Sirius laughed.

"_That's why everyone thinks you fancy her, Sirius! _Everyone thinks you're gonna hit on her next."

"Well, I'm not! I'll show them—"

"People at Felix probably saw _the jealousy in your eyes _you had for dear, old Regulus and your goo-goo eyes for Rebecca!"

"I was not jealous and I was not making goo-goo eyes!" Sirius put his foot down. It sounded funny when he said it that way. James laughed.

Everyone thought Sirius fancied Rebecca... was Rebecca included with 'everyone'? Sirius didn't want Rebecca to feel as if she's 'just one of those girls'. Because she honestly wasn't and Sirius had no intention at all to hit on her like he did to the other girls in school.

He suddenly realized he actually _had _been thinking about Rebecca a lot, ever since she arrived at Hogwarts, and even more when he met her.

"Sirius, c'mon," James stood up. "Let's head down for some lunch."

"Sure," Sirius replied absentmindedly. Sirius suddenly had a huge question plastered on his brain. _How come he didn't see Rebecca the way he saw the other girls at Hogwarts?

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_

**anyway, time for me to reply to some reviews! :)**

**Jade Lammourgy, Regulus did some naughty stuff. You won't find out till the next chapter, though! ;)**

**Cicillia and Joelle8, yes. Well, Peter knows Rebecca best since he became friends with her first. And it is pretty obvious when Sirius likes a girl, don't you think so? ;) I never really like Peter before this story and I also surprised myself when I started liking him myself. LOL! :P**

**bluekiwi95, aww, you're welcome! I like talking to my reviewers, I did that a lot in my first story, The Dark Side of The Moon. :) hope you like this chapter!**

**Axellefish, I guess you could call it a love triangle. In my story, Sirius and Regulus are pretty much the same when it comes to girls, but in Rebecca's case... one of them changes. ;) It's not so hard to figure out who, if you ask me. :-" =))**

**BY THE WAY, IF ANY OF YOU PEOPLE HAVE TWITTER, YOU CAN FOLLOW ME www[dot]twitter[dot]com/deyilagan**

**Reviews, lovelies! :)  
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	12. Instant Best Friend

**hey guys :) sorry for the short chapter and the long update :( i haven't been in the writing mood lately... and i've been so preoccupied by other things. :D our school fair, for one thing. it's in 2 days! :))**

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12. INSTANT BEST FRIEND

Rebecca turned on her side with her eyes half open. "Ugh," she groaned loudly. Her head started to spin. "Hangover," she muttered.

"Me, too," Bellatrix rubbed her temples.

"I think we drank too much last night," Rebecca laughed weakly.

Bellatrix replied, "You didn't even get drunk."

"I was! I don't even remember much of what happened last night."

"Not even when Regulus…?"

"What?" Rebecca frowned.

"_Oh, nothing,_" Bellatrix sniggered.

"Tell me, biatch," Rebecca slowly sat up. "What did he do?"

"You're serious you don't remember?" Bellatrix raised her eyebrows.

"Well, maybe I can rake it out of my memory. Give me some clues, won't you?"

"Okay," Bellatrix twirled a lock of her hair and thought. "Do you still remember when you accidentally broke one of the pitchers?"

"I think so," Rebecca frowned, "Oh, yeah! Yeah, I remember that, Severus fixed it with magic, didn't he?" Bellatrix nodded.

"Try remembering what happened after that," Bellatrix looked smug.

"Uhm," Rebecca, "I think I remember. Sort of."

_Rebecca turned around and her arm bumped into a pitcher of brandy. "Oh, sorry," Rebecca said to no one in particular, feeling high and drunk. She felt a pair of hands slither around her waist. His scent was familiar and there was a tinge of smoke and alcohol that Rebecca could smell. "Hey, Reg," she laughed. Regulus was more drunk than Rebecca and he carelessly shouted, "Fuck me!"_

"_Yeah, right," Rebecca scoffed and pulled the collar of Regulus' shirt roughly. They stumbled like a couple of idiots and Rebecca thought she saw a glimpse of Regulus on the other side of the room watching her intently. But that's impossible—Regulus was right there in front of her!_

_Regulus kissed Rebecca full on the lips and she kissed him back, not thinking properly. Their teeth tapped, their tongues slid against each other and the smell of alcohol lingered._

Rebecca frowned and looked at Bellatrix. "Did I make out with Regulus last night?" she asked slowly and Bellatrix laughed.

"You guys molested each other, more like," Bellatrix said.

Rebecca grunted and threw a pillow to Bellatrix, "And you guys didn't even stop us!"

"Oh, you were both drunk, let it go," Bellatrix waved an airy hand.

"Fine," Rebecca rolled her eyes, "It means nothing anyway. Nothing."

"If you say so," Bellatrix cackled. "Regulus probably even doesn't remember it, he was too drunk to be true! So," she changed the subject, "Did you meet anyone interesting? That's one of the upsides of Felix and open parties, you know—meeting new people."

"And hooking up, possibly," Rebecca joked. "Well, Sirius is the only one there who qualified for 'interesting'," Rebecca said before she could stop herself.

"Sirius? Really now," Bellatrix scoffed.

"Well, he's your cousin, you must find at least one good thing about him," Rebecca added defensively. "I mean, if I can, so can you."

"Oh, yeah," Bellatrix said sarcastically, "he's good at running away."

"Running away?"

"He ran away from his parents' house last year and went to live with the Potters instead."

"Why?"

"According to Sirius, he couldn't take all the blood purity rules his family wanted. His father wanted him to marry Hera to maintain the pure-bloodedness of the Blacks… you remember Hera, don't you?"

"Yeah, of course I do. How could I forget?" Rebecca grunted.

"Well, Sirius and Hera didn't want to marry each other—they were close, real close, but not in the way Sirius' father wanted it to be."

"Look, that's just gross—of course they wouldn't want to marry each other!" Rebecca frowned. "So then, what happened?"

"Well, he ran away when he was sixteen… and his mom blasted his face out of the Black family tree. There's a wall at the Black's house that's got a family tree painted all over it. It goes way, way back."

"So, his family disowned him, you mean?"

Bellatrix nodded. "Serves him right, if you ask me. He disgraced the name of the Blacks!" Bellatrix said heatedly. "Well, I'm off downstairs. Gonna get some lunch. You coming?"

"In a while—I'll follow," Rebecca said tonelessly as Bellatrix went out of the room. Rebecca tried remembering a few more events that happened during her night at Felix.

"_What the hell are you doing?" Regulus pulled her arm._

"_None of your business," Rebecca laughed._

"_Look, you're drunk—"_

"_I am not drunk, Regulus—"_

"_I'm not Regulus! It's me, Sirius!"_

_Rebecca blinked rapidly, "Oh, Sirius it's you—why are you pretending to be Regulus?"_

_Sirius sighed and thought this was no use. "You just snogged the hell out of my brother, Johnson."_

"_Don't worry, you're brother's hot, Black," Rebecca answered. "Now, go away."_

_Sirius looked disappointed and left without another word._

Rebecca sat up very quickly and reached for the comb on the dresser. However, she gasped and cringed immediately—she felt a panging pain on her chest, like a huge boulder had been dropped squarely on it. She gasped again, trying to breathe, and failing miserably.

On the dresser, there was the jar of transparent pebbles. With trembling fingers, she reached for the jar and she tried to stand up. Frail as she was, she opened the jar and popped in her mouth one transparent pebble. It was hard to swallow, and when she did, she felt it slide down slowly on her throat. She coughed multiple times, thinking that she was about to choke on the medicine. Fortunately, her breathing steadied and the pain in her chest faded away.

Rebecca closed her eyes and leaned her head on one of the posts of her four-poster bed. _I shouldn't have been so harsh to myself last night, _she thought to herself. She was advised before to avoid alcohol, and yet, there she was right now, fresh from a morning hangover from all the partying last night in Felix.

Lucky no one was there to see what just happened to her.

Irritated, she hurriedly rushed out of the common room and headed straight for the Great Hall.

"Hey—Johnson, wait up!" Sirius called her from behind.

"Black," Rebecca panted. "What do you want?"

"Whoa, why so snappy, eh?" Sirius frowned.

Rebecca sighed and muttered, "Sorry about that."

Sirius eyed her for a moment. "You… you okay? You don't look like you are."

"I'm fine," Rebecca said firmly.

"You sure?"

"_Yes._"

"Okay, okay!" Sirius sighed as well, "Bloody hell, I was just trying to help—"

"Thanks, Black—but I'm alright."

Sirius gave Rebecca an incredulous look. Rebecca chuckled, "Okay, maybe not _that _alright. But you shouldn't worry about me."

"Well, if you're sure, Becca."

Rebecca smirked and raised an eyebrow at Sirius. They were walking together to the Great Hall. "Since when have you called me Becca?"

"Well, it is your name, isn't it?"

"Ah, so now you're the one with the snappy comebacks," she teased. "Look," Rebecca continued, "I'm sorry about what happened in Felix last night."

"What do you mean?"

"I remembered what happened between me and your brother," she said frankly with no hesitation whatsoever, "and I just want to tell you that if it offended you in any way at all—I mean, you and Reg _are _siblings—I'm sorry about it. It meant nothing, whatever we were doing."

"I sure hope so," Sirius muttered darkly. "Like I told James, falling in love with Regulus is the kiss of doom."

"Why, have you tried it?" Rebecca teased Sirius again. They looked at each other as Sirius ran out of comebacks and just laughed.

Sirius was the sort of person whom Rebecca was very comfortable with. Kind of like an instant best friend. She met him not very long ago, and yet, there they were teasing each other like they've been friends for years.

"So…" Rebecca said slowly, "Your friend, Remus Lupin, sure is an interesting guy."

Sirius felt his heart skip a beat. "What made you say so?" he asked.

"Oh, you know. He's different from the others," Rebecca kept the suspense and smirked inwardly.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "How?" he asked.

Rebecca replied, "Physically. Mentally. Emotionally."

"Wait a minute—" Sirius frowned, "You've never even met him properly yet—"

"Oh, I know enough about him, believe me," Rebecca stopped in her tracks. "Remus Lupin is a werewolf."

Sirius stared at her with a poker face for three second and then he started laughing hysterically. "_A werewolf?! _Oh—don't give me that. You can't be _serious,_ Johnson! What an _imagination_ you have," Sirius laughed.

"Oh, c'mon, I know he is," Rebecca pushed Sirius playfully and Sirius pushed her back. Before they knew it, they were both laughing at themselves and their arms were interlocked.

"Yeah, right. Says you," Sirius tugged a lock of Rebecca's hair.

"Don't touch my hair, Black," Rebecca warned.

When they arrived at the Great Hall, heads turned towards their direction. People started to look sceptically at them—simply because they were from Slytherin and Gryffindor. The last friendship of this kind that Hogwarts saw was that of Severus Snape and Lily Evans. But that was over a long time ago.

"Uhm," Sirius said awkwardly, "I—I've gotta go. You know, James, Remus and Peter."

"Oh yeah, Potter, Peter and the—"

"_Don't say it_," Sirius pinched her arm.

"Ow!"

Some of the Slytherins and Gryffindors were whispering with one another and Rebecca wasn't stupid—she knew that they were talking about her and Sirius. Suddenly, she became aware of their interlocked arms.

"Uhm," Rebecca whispered, "You can let go now, Black."

Sirius blinked and slid his arm out of hers, "Oh. Right. Sorry—"

"Nevermind," Rebecca waved an airy hand, "I'll see you later, okay? And Remus is a—"

"_No, he's not!_," Sirius insisted and Rebecca laughed.

"See you," Rebecca repeated and left for the Slytherin table.

Sirius stayed rooted on the spot for a while, staying after her. All of a sudden he remembered James' warning about the goo-goo eyes. Shaking his head in denial, he left for the Gryffindor table as well.

"I _do not _make goo-goo eyes at her," Sirius muttered to himself irritably.

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**i know, its a short chappie, but please, bear with me here! it's the season of writer's block for me. :) if any of you have any ideas for the story, you can leave a review about it or PM me. :) anyway, read and review, please! :) thanks. i'm sorry if there were any typos in this one... i wasn't able to reread this chapter. i can when i have time, because now, i don't have any time. :(**


	13. A Question Raised

**MANNY PACQUIAO WON! Congrats, Manny! :)**

**okay, lol. anyway, hello, everyone :) this is chapter 13 of YCLGN and i've used an idea suggested by Jade Lammourgy. oh, wait, i have to get the cat away from the hamsters. **

**okay, i'm done :) yes, i own two hamsters. and a cat. and two dogs. and two ducks. seriously. lol =))**

**so, i will remind everyone reading YCLGN again to read my other stories. READ THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON BEFORE YOU READ THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY! Because The Dawn Of a New Day is the sequel to The Dark Side of The Moon and we wouldn't want anything spoiled, now do we? ;;) if you read them, please review, as always. :) i don't reply to all reviews, but I read all of them. and I thanks my reviewers. :) you guys rock! speaking of thanking them, here i go: THANKS to _BlueRose22, hpaddict, Jade Lammourgy, Joelle8, bluekiwi95, Naflower05, Asplode and CaraGrace. _THANKS also to everyone who subscribed to story alert, who added this story in their favourites and who added me in their fave authors. :)**

**Oh and by the way, I've finally seen the PERFECT actress for Rebecca... (drum roll please) EMMA RIGBY! :) she's pretty, she's hot, she's blonde, she's british and she's perfect for Rebecca Johnson.**

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13. A QUESTION RAISED

"What was that?" James raised an eyebrow as he asked Sirius. Sirius sat down on the Gryffindor table opposite James.

"What was what?" Sirius asked as he frowned.

"You," James nodded. "Her," he jerked his head towards the Slytherin table. "Going into the Great Hall together, alone and—"

Sirius laughed a little louder than needed. "Johnson and I? Yeah right, Prongs," Sirius waved an airy hand. "She and I are just really good friends."

"Denial," said a voice beside Sirius. It belonged to a girl, "That's how it starts," she said. Sirius turned his head to look at who spoke and he was surprised to see that it was Lily.

"Lily Evans?" Sirius chuckled, "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Eating," Lily replied, "It is lunchtime, after all."

James sniggered and Lily glanced at him.

"No," Sirius insisted, "I mean, what are you doing here with James?"

"He and I are good friends," Lily smiled.

"Good friends?" Sirius raised and eyebrow and looked from Lily to James.

"Yeah," said Lily.

Sirius reached for his goblet, "Denial. That's how it starts," he muttered.

"You know," said another voice behind Sirius, "Rebecca likes animals." Sirius looked behind him and it was Peter. As he took a seat next to Sirius, Peter said, "James and Lily know this place with really good horses, you can bring her horseback riding there sometime—"

"Why would I do that?" Sirius chuckled, confused, "She can go horse riding on her own. Or she can bring her Slytherin friends with her."

Peter looked incredulously at Sirius, "Do you honestly think that Bellatrix, Regulus and Severus would want to go riding ponies?"

Sirius shrugged. "Or you can bring her to Madam Puddifoot's," said Remus, who took a seat next to James. "That's a common date place."

"Exactly," Sirius rolled his eyes, "It's the most common date place! I wouldn't want to take her somewhere common—"

James, Lily, Remus and Peter all sniggered.

Sirius felt blood rush through him. "I mean, I wouldn't want to take her to a date place anyway. No one brings a friend to a date place, that's stupid," Sirius said as he took a huge bite from his bread. "Why are you all suggesting these things anyway? It's not like I fancy her or anything," he shrugged. "Anyway, I'm off. McGonagall asked me to come to her office after lunch for a short meeting or something."

"About?" asked James.

"I don't even know," Sirius took one last sip from his goblet, "I'll tell you afterwards. See you guys," and he left.

As Sirius closed the door of Great Hall shut behind him, Lily said, "This isn't working, James."

"I know," James slammed his hand on the table. "Lily, you're a girl—why don't you try and make friends with Rebecca?"

"Are you crazy, Potter? Make friends with her? She's a pain!"

"Not really," Peter interjected. "She's nice when you're on her good side."

"Well, it's obvious that Sirius likes her," Remus shrugged. "I don't know about Rebecca, though."

"Why are you all so worked up about Rebecca and Sirius anyway?" asked Lily.

"Because," James answered, "They're perfect for each other! Rebecca might be the girl who could end Sirius' womanizing days!"

"Sirius isn't really a womanizer—" Lily muttered.

"Well, of course, that's the exaggerated story. Sirius lives by it, anyway," chuckled James.

"You know," Peter frowned, "It looks like Rebecca Johnson is the only girl in school who's not in love with Mr. Perfect Sirius Black."

"You never know, Wormtail," James pointed a finger. "She might be in denial as well."

"But I thought she's got a thing with Sirius' brother?" Lily asked.

"No, no," James waved an impatient hand, "Regulus and Rebecca were drunk during that time."

"Felix?"

"Yes."

"You see?" Lily said triumphantly, "That's exactly why I don't want to go to that place."

"Scared to let your wild side out?" Remus teased.

"No, I'm scared to endanger my being!" Lily said heatedly and the three Marauders laughed.

"Listen, Lily," James said, "I'm really glad we're friends now—though a bit upset that friends might be all we become—"

Lily slapped his shoulder.

"Ow! I'm joking, Lily!" James raised his hands defensively, "_As I was saying_, we need someone who can try and find out if Rebecca fancies Sirius as well."

"Why don't you just ask Peter to do that?" Lily groaned. "He's already friends with her anyway!"

"No way, she'd never tell him!" James frowned.

"And why not, James Potter?"

"Because I'm a boy," Peter answered instead.

"Yeah, you never tell a boy you like his best friend, it makes you look stupid," James nodded in agreement.

"No, it doesn't," Remus and Lily butt in.

"Whatever!" James shook his head. "So, Lily. Can you become friends with Rebecca?"

"Yes," Lily replied and James looked pleased, "But first—we discuss the subject of payment," Lily said formally.

James' face fell. Lily continued, "I want you to teach me how to become and Animagus."

James, Peter and Remus suddenly all became silent. "An Animagus?" James scoffed.

"Yes," Lily said firmly.

"How? We don't know how…"

"Yeah, right," Lily gestured the three of them to lean in closer so that they could hear her whisper, "I know three of the four _Marauders _are Animagi… because one of you is a werewolf."

Remus almost knocked over a pitcher.

"I know it's you, Remus," Lily smirked.

"Of course, not," Peter and James stuttered, "That's stupid, Remus isn't—"

"Yes," Remus sighed, defeated. "Okay, okay! You guessed it right." James and Peter fell silent. "Can you keep it a secret Lily?" Remus asked.

Lily threw her head back. "I'm not going to go shouting about it! I'm not that thick."

James sighed. "Alright," he said. "You become friends with Rebecca and find out what we want and you've got yourself Animagi lessons. Though, I have to warn you—it takes time."

"Oh, that's alright," Lily chuckled.

* * *

Sirius knocked on Professor McGonagall's door. "Come in," said McGonagall from inside.

Sirius went inside her office and McGonagall gestured him to take a seat. "Good morning, Professor," he said.

"Good morning, Mr. Black," Professor McGonagall peered through her glasses as she was signing some papers with her quill. "How have you been? Enjoying the start of term?"

"It's been pretty interesting," Sirius smiled confidently.

"Yes… well, I've been observing you in my classes, Mr. Black—along with everybody else, of course—and I've seen you've got quite a knack for Transfiguration."

"Well, I'm proud to say it's my best subject, Professor."

"Have you made any new friends lately? From a different house, I suppose?"

Sirius was taken aback by the sudden change of subject. "Uhm, yes, I have. From Slytherin, Professor."

McGonagall smiled. "And what is her name?"

Sirius opened his mouth to answer but then closed it again when he realized that McGonagall knew that his Slytherin friend was a girl. "The new girl, Rebecca."

"Yes, I noticed," McGonagall said right away. "You are aware that she used to be a student of Beauxbatons Academy?"

Sirius nodded. "Well," McGonagall continued, "the level of Transfiguration that we study here at Hogwarts is much harder than that of Beauxbatons—well, for the seventh years, at least. Rebecca seems to have been taken aback by the sudden change of intensity in her Transfiguration lessons... or so she says. Oh, she's a bright student, of course, it's just that she thinks she just needs a little bit of help for now. She was the one who specifically spoke to me about this matter, you know."

Sirius nodded again.

McGonagall put down her quill and looked at Sirius. "And she _specifically_ asked if you could be the one to help her," she said.

"You—you mean, like, tutoring her?"

McGonagall shrugged. "I suppose you can put it that way. I think she's doing fine in Transfiguration but she thinks otherwise. Well, one cannot really blame her, Mr. Black, considering what she experienced last summer," McGonagall shook her head sadly.

"So, what do you say?" she smiled.

"Well," Sirius said, "I would be happy to, Professor." He smiled.

McGonagall smiled back. "Thank you. That is all, then. You may go."

As Sirius stood up to leave, McGonagall said, "Oh, and Mr. Black? Pass me your essay on Human Transfiguration tomorrow, or it's detention. Same goes for Mr. Potter."

Sirius could not help but chuckle. "Alright, Professor," he said and he walked towards the door. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. "Professor McGonagall," he said tentatively.

"Yes?"

Sirius frowned, wondering, "What happened to Rebecca last summer? Does it have something to do with why she left Beauxbatons?"

McGonagall smiled sadly, but knowingly, "She was expelled, she did not leave Beauxbatons. And yes, what happened to her last summer does have something to do with it."

"Professor, what exactly—"

"Now is not the time for that story," McGonagall said quietly but firmly and Sirius did not press the topic any further.

"Yes, Professor," Sirius went to the door to leave and stuttered, "See—see you at class tomorrow."

"Goodbye, Mr. Black."

* * *

**so... pop quiz time... why do you think rebecca was expelled? what do you think happened to her last summer?**

**reviews, please!**


	14. Seductive Quidditch

**ah. a little regulus/rebecca thing here. it hurt me to write it, trust me [-(**

**right then. THANKS to Cicillia, twelvepastnoon, CaraGrace, Jade Lammourgy and hpaddict for the reviews :) moving on to pop quiz number one (which was in the previous chappie...), i won't reveal what's the answer just yet. though i'll give you all a clue: I'M PRETTY SATISFIED WITH YOUR ANSWERS ;)**

* * *

14. SEDUCTIVE QUIDDITCH

Later that day, Rebecca Johnson was spending some time alone in the library. She was seated in a secluded corner, with her nose in a book called _Rare Healing Potions and the Proof of their Existence. _Her eyes were fixed on the words on the pages of the old tattered book and her eyebrows were lightly scrunched up as if concentrating on something seriously.

By luck and coincidence, Lily Evans entered the library, being the bookworm that she naturally is. The library was a good place to do homework, and so Lily brought with her a piece of parchment, a quill and some ink. She took a seat and placed her parchment on the table. Just as she was about to open the bottle of ink, Lily got distracted by the sound of a page being turn roughly, coming from right behind her.

Lily slowly turned her head round. She sighed inwardly and 'tsk'ed to herself when she realized the person behind her was none other than Rebecca. Lily turned back to her parchment, trying to ignore that blonde Slytherin behind her. However, just as she was about to dip her quill into some ink, Lily heard Rebecca turn another page roughly. Lily turned her head again and opened her mouth to say something but then closed it right away. She suddenly remembered what James had asked her to do… and she really wanted those Animagi lessons.

Lily thought about what she should say to Rebecca. Peter said that she's nice when you're on her good side, and Lily was bound to take his advice… Out of the blue, Lily noticed the odd book Rebecca was reading so intently.

"'_Rare Healing Potions and the Proof of their Existence_'?" Lily said before she could stop herself. Rebecca eyes darted into Lily's. "That's… that's a strange title," Lily muttered.

Rebecca lowered the book so that now, her entire face was seen. "It's a strange book," Rebecca nodded in agreement, but her tone was monotonous, and unreadable.

"I'm sorry, I just—," Lily huffed, "I just saw that book and it kind of caught my attention."

Rebecca closed the book quietly and put it aside. "Yes, it does that," she nodded again. "You're that Evans girl, aren't you?"

Lily didn't like being called 'Evans girl', but she just put up with it and smiled a small, quick smile. "Yes. My name's Lily. You're Rebecca, if I'm not mistaken."

"You're not."

Lily thought Rebecca's voice sounded a little eerie. "So, what's up with that book? It doesn't look like something you'd take for light reading."

"Actually, I'm doing some research," replied Rebecca. Lily began to feel as if she was on the right track.

"Research? What about?"

Rebecca pointed to the title on the cover of the book.

"Well," Lily huffed again, "Of course, that's obvious."

"Don't you have some homework to do?" Rebecca looked at Lily's parchment, ink and quill.

"Yes. It's for Potions."

"Oh," Rebecca leaned over, "it's that essay about the advantages and disadvantages of the Wit-sharpening Potion, isn't it?"

"That's the one," Lily nodded, "Have you done yours?"

"I finished mine last Friday, when the homework was given to us."

"Well, you're a studious one, aren't you?" Lily laughed quietly.

"Not exactly," Rebecca laughed back in the same tone. Lily was definitely on the right track. Rebecca continued, "It's just that Potions is my favourite subject here. Plus, Professor Slughorn's the best."

"He sure is," Lily smiled, remembering a few memories with her favourite professor.

"You're a personal favourite of his, you know," Rebecca said casually as she opened the book she was reading again. There was a moment of silence as Lily started on her essay and Rebecca started reading the book again. Suddenly, Rebecca stood up and said before heading behind one of the book shelves, "I used this really good book as a source for that essay you're doing right now. I'll get it, maybe you'll find it useful."

"Thanks," Lily called after her. In silence, Lily turned back to her essay but suddenly, a pang of curiosity hit her. Rebecca had left the book she was reading behind. And it was already opened on a certain page.

Lily looked around, seeing if anyone was there or if Rebecca was somewhere close by. When she didn't see any trace of any person, she peeked over at the book.

Lily read the page.

_THE HEVELIN STONE_

_The Hevelin Stone is a kind of clear crystal, taken from pebbles found nearby large bodies of water (e.g. lakes, waterfalls, rivers). This stone is most famous for restoring energy at the moment it is swallowed, but it also contains a very powerful medicinal substance. The Hevelin Stone is very rare, as it can only be collected on the first day of winter, during the first half hour of twilight._

_Despite how dangerous this stone is, it is the sole medicine for a usually fatal disease called_

"Here you go, Evans," Rebecca walked back towards Lily. Lily tore her eyes quickly away from the book and for the first time, looked straight into the eyes of Rebecca. "I found the book," Rebecca added.

"Thanks," Lily smiled.

"You might want to go to chapter five of that," Rebecca told her as she packed things up. "It discusses exactly about the advantages and disadvantages of the Wit-sharpening Potion. Well, I have to run—see you, around, Evans."

And Rebecca walked away.

"It's Lily," Lily called after her.

Rebecca turned around again, clutching the sinister book. "Right," she chuckled. "Bye, Lily."

"Bye," Lily smiled and waved.

Lily turned to chapter five of the book Rebecca gave her. It was very helpful, explicit and easy to understand. Lily felt as if she would be done with the essay in about five to ten minutes. As she wrote down the first few words on her parchment, she couldn't help but wonder why Rebecca would be looking up the Hevelin Stone… Lily's never heard of that before. In fact, that never came up in any of Hogwarts' lessons at all—and they were already seventh year students. _Oh well, _Lily thought, _that's all up to Rebecca. It's none of my business._

And Lily continued with her essay.

* * *

As Rebecca walked opened the entrance to the library to leave, she found herself face to face with a boy with jet-black, untidy, windswept hair that stuck out oddly at the back. He wore round glasses and his eyes were a deep hazel. Rebecca knew right away who this was. "Looking for Lily?" she said automatically to James Potter.

James opened his mouth to answer but then stuttered and closed it again. "Yes, I was… I was just—I mean, I—"

"She's inside, doing her Potions essay. You should too—I heard that you've got to submit it by tomorrow, or McGonagall gives you detention. Same goes for Sirius."

"Thanks," James said slowly and he entered the library as Rebecca went out. "So, I've heard too," he continued, "I've also heard that Sirius is helping you out with Transfiguration."

"What? Oh, yeah, that. Technically, he hasn't helped me yet. But he will. Who told you about that?"

James shrugged. "Sirius did," he said. "We tell each other everything. Best friends."

"Okay," Rebecca said quickly, "Anyway, bye. I've got to go."

"Bye."

Rebecca walked briskly away from the library, hugging the book. Just as she was about to turn around a corner, a hand grabbed hold of her waist. The warmth and feeling of it was familiar. "Hey, Becca," Regulus greeted her.

Rebecca looked up at him and beamed. "Hi, Reg," she said. "I've had a strange, but satisfying day today."

"Really, now," Regulus chuckled. "Those Gryffindors again? The so-called Marauders, perhaps?"

"Actually, it was the Potter boy and the red-head Head girl. I've had a peaceful, civil conversation with the both of them. It felt really weird—but at the same time, satisfying."

"I don't know how you can actually say that, Becca," Regulus sighed. "I mean, they're not like us. And that red-head Evans—she's not a pureblood!"

"Pureblood or not, she's a witch. She may be from the muggle world, but I hear she's smart. Maybe even smarter than some purebloods here at Hogwarts."

"Hey, you're a pureblood, aren't you?" Regulus looked at her.

"Of course, I am. With parents like mine, what do you expect? A donkey?" Rebecca chuckled weakly.

Regulus noticed the tattered book Rebecca was clutching. "You're still not over it, are you?" he asked as he draped his arm around her shoulders.

"No," she replied bitterly. "I'm really annoyed about it, actually. I'm reading this, trying to see if I can find any loopholes to get out my damning situation. And I haven't found anything—_anything _useful." She rolled her eyes.

"Well, maybe you can't do anything about it," Regulus grimaced.

"Oh, thanks a lot. That's a real comforter, Reg."

"Aw, no. I didn't mean it that way, come here," Regulus pulled Rebecca's hand and wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in a tight embrace.

"This sucks, Reg," Rebecca said with a muffled voice. "I hate what's happening to me."

Out of the blue, Regulus and Rebecca could hear three voices coming closer and closer. They belonged to three boys and as Rebecca looked over her shoulder, she saw Sirius, Remus and Peter talking and laughing about an inside joke. Sirius glanced at Rebecca, and then at his brother, and his absentminded smile melted away. He nodded once at Regulus and Regulus nodded back at Sirius. And then that was it. The three Marauders left the corridor.

"Don't you two ever act like brothers?" Rebecca said as Regulus let go of her.

"I honestly wouldn't mind being all buddy-buddy with Sirius—he is my brother, after all—it's just that it's awkward. And others would look at it in a bad light or something like that," Regulus shook his head as he spoke. "And my 'brotherhood' with Sirius got real bad when he decided to run away from home last year. And now it's really worse than anything, ever since Hera died."

Rebecca cleared her throat.

"Don't worry about it," Regulus said immediately. "I don't really mind her dying—I never knew her personally. Sirius did, though. He blames us for her death."

"Sirius blames who?" asked Rebecca.

"My family."

"Well, Hera's death isn't your fault—or your family's."

Regulus took a deep breath and then sighed quickly. He shrugged. "Nevermind that anymore," he concluded. "C'mon, let's head to the pitch. We've still got practice today."

"Oh yeah," Rebecca face brightened. "Our first match is two days from now!" she said. "Who're we up against?"

"Gryffindor," Regulus answered. "You better get ready for them—Potter put up quite an interesting team this year."

"You really think they'll beat us?" Rebecca smirked.

"I'd like to say, 'We'll see', but I say, 'Not a chance'," Regulus smirked back and put his arm back on Rebecca's shoulders, "You ain't seen nothing like Hogwarts Quidditch, baby."

* * *

**ugh :( i wish Sirius would make his move already. but no, no. it has to wait. but something will happen to rebecca and sirius in the next chapter :")**

**okay. so at this point, i'd expect you readers to have at least one of your questions answered. or something like that. okay, so pop quiz number two: WHAT DO YOU THINK REBECCA IS READING ABOUT IN THAT STRANGE, STRANGE BOOK, AND WHY IS SHE READING IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?**

**i expect good answers from you all, considering you guys did well in pop quiz number one ;)**

**reviews, lovelies! :)**

**sorry for typos :D no time to reread.**


	15. Obsessed

**hi everyone. sorry for the long wait! internet's been down lately. anyway, thanks for all your reviews! :) you guys are awesome. i've put up a new story in my profile, it's called 'The Vampires Take Everything', it's a oneshot, go check it out please, and review! it's a jacob/oc friendship fic. not my best, but i just loved the idea so much i had to write it down! lol=)) anyway, i just watched new moon lately and i loved it. I LOVE TAYLOR LAUTNER! :")**

* * *

15. OBSESSED

"_Am I obsessed with you? I do my best not to want you… but I do all the time, I do all the time."_

_- Obsessed by Miley Cyrus_

By the time the sun began to set, the Slytherin Quidditch team was walking back to the broom shed, panting and sweaty. It had been a very good practice. All the players slumped down on the benches, exhausted. As Rebecca took off her Quidditch robes, she scrunched her eyes and clutched her chest, her frail heart somewhat painful.

"You alright?" Regulus asked Rebecca, as he put his hand on her thigh. Rebecca leaned on him and hugged him close, so that their sweat mingled.

"I think so," she replied. With one last huff, Rebecca stood up and told her team, "I'll get going already. I need to clean up, I feel all slippery." Rebecca left the broom shed, then the pitch, and soon she was inside the walls of the Hogwarts castle. She ran a hand through her long hair that was slightly damp with sweat and she walked through the strangely empty halls, hearing her panting echo loudly.

She got on one of the moving stairs cases, but was very unfortunate to have her foot stuck in one of the marble steps. "What the…" she muttered. Rebecca tried to pull out her foot, but she grunted, unsuccessful.

"Need some help?" a gruff voice was wafted from the top of the stairs. It was Sirius.

"I suppose—I mean," Rebecca replied sheepishly, "Yes."

Sirius went down the steps and said, "Ah. You've got yourself stuck in a vanishing step. Don't worry. That happened to all of us here. So, what's up?" Sirius eyed her, "You look like you stepped out of a swimming pool."

"Quidditch practice," Rebecca answered, "It's been a bit tough." She looked up and there was Sirius, just one step on the stairs higher than her. "You know," she said, "You look a lot like Regulus."

"I know," Sirius chuckled.

"You're just…" Rebecca hesitated.

Sirius made a face. "What?" he asked quietly.

"You're—you're a lot more handsome."

Sirius laughed and put his hands on Rebecca shoulders. "Did you hit your head during Quidditch practice or something?"

Rebecca chuckled. "No, no," she shook her head. "Just get me out of here, Sirius."

"Right then," Sirius said, "put your arms around me and pull yourself upward, alright?"

"Yeah."

Rebecca slid her arms around Sirius' head and Sirius embraced her waist tightly. They have never been so close like this. Rebecca felt her face become warmer, for some bizarre reason, and she liked the distinct, attractive scent that was so Sirius. She was fond of the feel of his arms around her.

Sirius pulled her up, but Rebecca was still stuck in the step. "What're you doing? Pull yourself up as well."

"Oh," Rebecca quickly replied, "Sorry, I was distracted."

Sirius smirked and was glad that Rebecca did not see it. He didn't care that she was all sweaty from Quidditch practice… in fact, he thought it was kind of hot. _She _was kind of hot. _No, she's really really hot, _he chuckled inwardly. Sirius hugged her waist more firmly to the point that they were so close to each other that almost every part of their body touched. He had this strange desire to kiss her.

"Sirius, what're you doing? You're not pulling me up," Rebecca said.

"Oh, sorry… I got distracted," Sirius mirrored Rebecca's words.

Sirius pulled Rebecca up and at last, she was out of the vanishing step. They stumbled a little, but caught their balance again on the stairs' railing. "Thanks," Rebecca mumbled, Sirius' perfect face inches from hers. They still had their arms around each other.

"Becca," Sirius muttered, "You like me, right?"

Rebecca chuckled. "Yeah," she replied.

"Good," Sirius couldn't help but smirk. He took advantage of their current situation and leaned forward to kiss her.

Rebecca gasped quietly and jerked away. Sirius was taken aback. Girls would be ecstatic when he kissed them. "Sirius, please," she said as she put her hand on his chest, "Don't—don't do this now, don't do this here."

"Why?" Sirius chuckled easily. "You like me. And you think I'm handsome, don't you?"

Rebecca smiled momentarily, "Sirius, it's much more than that… I'm sorry. Just—just don't do this to me. It's too sudden, I don't even know you that much yet."

Sirius grimaced, getting the message. "I'm sorry."

Rebecca sighed, not knowing what to say. The truth was, Rebecca wanted to kiss him as well, it's just that she felt as if it wasn't the right time. Yet.

Sirius 'tsk'ed and said, "Wow, I'm a jerk."

"No, you're not," Rebecca tittered comfortingly. "I still like you, Sirius."

"I like you, too," Sirius smiled. "Thanks. And I'm sorry, again."

"Yeah," answered Rebecca, "Don't mind it."

For a moment, Sirius just stared at her. "It's Regulus, isn't is?" he asked.

"What?" Rebecca half-laughed. "No… no! Of course not."

"Really," Sirius said it as a statement, not as a question.

"It's not Regulus, I promise," Rebecca lied. The truth was, she kind of liked Regulus as well… but not as much as she liked Sirius, which she found strange. Rebecca shifted her position awkwardly, smiled and then said, "Anyway, I have to get back to the common room. I've got to shower, I'm so dirty from practice."

"Alright. I guess I'll see you around," Sirius said.

"Yeah," Rebecca replied, "Hey, wait. Where are _you _going?"

"Shrieking Shack," Sirius checked his watch.

"Why?"

"Oh, nothing," he said and waved an airy hand. "See you." And he left in a hurry.

_That was weird, _thought Rebecca.

"Bye," Rebecca stared after him. Why in the world would Sirius go to the Shrieking Shack?

Rebecca started to walk back to the Slytherin common room, but not soon afterward, she bumped into Lily Evans. "Hi Rebecca," Lily smiled.

"Oh," Rebecca nodded, "Hi, Lily."

Lily's smile faded and she asked, "What's that smell?"

"Uhm," Rebecca sniffed her shirt, "That's probably me. I just came from Quidditch practice. Does it smell that bad?"

"No, it doesn't smell _bad_, it just smells like… soil. And—wood, I guess."

"Oh," Rebecca grunted with a faraway look in her eyes. "Uhm, I've got a question… I mean, you're friends with James Potter, right?"

"Yes," Lily said suspiciously.

"Where is he right now?"

Lily pondered for a moment before saying slowly, "He's in the Shrieking Shack."

"I knew it," Rebecca muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"I just ran into Sirius not too long ago, and he said he had to leave because he had to go to the Shrieking Shack. I figured that maybe James would be there, too, since they're best friends…"

"Well, they're probably just there scheming their next prank," Lily said quickly.

Rebecca's eyes shot into Lily's. "And you're not going to do anything about it?"

"Huh?"

"You're a prefect."

"James is a prefect too, he knows his limits. Besides, a little humour doesn't hurt once in a while," Lily replied. Of course, she was lying. She knew the real reason why the Marauders were in the Shrieking Shack.

"There's something strange about that Lupin…"

"Strange?" Lily scoffed. "He's perfectly normal!"

There was a moment of silence. Suddenly, Lily asked, "You seem to be interested in the Marauders… do you… Oh, I don't know, do you fancy one of them?"

Rebecca chuckled knowingly, "I know _you_ do."

Lily smirked, "Well, I'm asking if _you_ do."

"I'm not really sure," Rebecca answered honestly.

"Oh, c'mon now. You can come clean. A crush doesn't hurt anybody. So who is it?"

Rebecca laughed and teased, "Oh, it's James Potter, Lily, it really is."

"You wish," Lily rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"Look, I really have to go. If I don't shower soon, I'd probably get… pneumonia, or something like that."

"Alright," Lily smiled. "Bye."

"Bye," Rebecca waved.

As Rebecca and Lily parted ways, Rebecca was left with her thoughts. Soon, she arrived at the common room and the first place she headed to was the showers. She liked the cold feel of water run down her bare skin, in contrast to the heat her body was feeling, fresh from a strenuous afternoon at the Quidditch pitch. She was still drowned in her thoughts… she had been thinking about Sirius a lot. In fact, she had been thinking about Sirius a bit too much. _Am I obsessed with him?! _She asked herself, mad. She liked the feeling of liking him, but at the same time, she was scared of it. And it didn't feel right… If Sirius knew the truth about her and what she had done, he probably wouldn't speak to her ever again. As a matter of fact, Sirius would probably never even look at her ever again.

Rebecca sighed, unable to loosen the grip on her traumatic past.

If only Sirius Black knew the truth.

* * *

**DARN. **

**haha. anyway, reviews, please! instead of a pop quiz, i want your opinions/suggestions on sirius and rebecca's relationship AS OF THE MOMENT. ;)**


	16. The Danger of Falling in Love

**i didn't really have a great time writing this chapter :( first off, i dont like writing sad stuff, though it seems to be a habit of mine to write sad things... and all conflicts need to be sad anyway, one way or another. second, my youngest and third hamster, Peter, is sick :( he's got wet tail and i hope he'll make it. poor little guy. :( third and lastly, I'M sick. well, sort of. I had some sort of allergic reaction yesterday to something. at first we thought it was measles (coz it looked like measles!) but then we went to the hospital and got it checked. it was just an allergic reaction. they got some of my blood and then injected antihistamine. i'm telling you, antihistamine makes you SOOOOO sleepy.**

**but i shouldn't drone on things like this! if my hamster dies (i hope not), i shouldnt be sad because hamsters live only up to two years anyway. i can just get a new one. and i still have my two other hamsters. oh, but still :(((((((**

**this is actually one of the longest chapters i have ever written. hope you guys like it! By the way, Jade Lammourgy, we seem to think alike. =)) you suggested that sirius and becca become awkward, and actually, they do. i had that all planned, lol! =))**

* * *

16. THE DANGER OF FALLING IN LOVE

"_You have a way of coming easily to me. And when you take, you take the very best of me… And now that I'm sitting here, thinking it through, I've never been anywhere cold as you."_

_- Cold As You by Taylor Swift_

Over the next few days, Sirius began to notice the change in Rebecca's attitude towards him. Every time he would approach her, she would suddenly go in the other direction, as if she never saw Sirius in the first place. When he got the chance to talk to her, she would answer in short sentences, or even with just one word, and then she would say something like, "I have to go," or "I'm late for something". Then she'd leave right away. Sirius has also been trying to get her to go out with him for Hogsmeade this weekend, but he failed loads of times, nonetheless.

Sirius and Rebecca were becoming awkward, and it upset and disturbed Sirius a lot.

One Thursday night during dinner at the Great Hall, "James," Sirius said gloomily.

"Yeah?"

"I don't get it," Sirius munched on a croissant.

"What don't you get?"

"Why won't Rebecca talk to me? It's like she's avoiding me or something. I've been trying to invite her to come to Hogsmeade with me but all I do is… _fail_."

James' eyes widened underneath his glasses. "Wow," he said. "Déjà-vu."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, that was how I was with Lily before," James shrugged. Lily, who was beside him, shot him a look and slapped his arm playfully. Sirius looked at the both of them and grimaced.

"Lucky bastards," Sirius muttered and he ran a hand through his silky black hair.

"Sirius," Lily said tentatively, "you do know that Rebecca and Regulus are dating, right?"

Sirius dropped his croissant and his jaw dropped, "_What?"_

"Well," Lily backtracked, "not _really _dating, but—it's like they hooked up or something, I dunno! Whatever it is, they've sort of become an item already."

"Damn it," Sirius sighed.

"What happened to your becoming friends with Rebecca, by the way?" James whispered to Lily. Lately, they've become an item as well. Lily seemed to be enjoying James' company more than she thought she would. "You know," James continued, "our _deal. The plan!_"

"Yeah," Lily scratched her forehead, "She hasn't said anything in particular about it. It's difficult to get information out of her. And if she was lying about some stuff, well she's pretty good at it, too."

James' face fell, "Well, you're not getting those Animagi lessons until you find out the catch about Rebecca's feelings for Sirius."

"James," Sirius grunted, an absentminded look in his eyes, "I think I may feelings for Rebecca."

James looked at him and said triumphantly, "I knew it!"

Sirius sighed. "It's not funny, James," he warned. Then he sighed again, "I don't feel like having any more dinner. I'm off to the common room… see you guys."

And then he left. Just like that.

On the Slytherin table, a pair of piercing blue eyes followed Sirius out of the Great Hall. Rebecca blinked, and her lips parted. Guilt filled her eyes, but she was still beautiful with her blonde locks cascading elegantly around her face. So what if she's sort of together with Regulus? Why has she been avoiding Sirius Black in the first place?

Because she was falling in love with him.

And they've just known each other for one week. _One week. _That was all it took. One week for her to get to know him. One week for her befriend him. One week for her to fall madly in love with him.

But nobody should know. Especially not Sirius. She was confident that if she couldn't get rid of her feelings, she could at least hide them. She was good at that—hiding things. Of course, she liked Regulus as well… very, very much. It was a good thing he resembled Sirius a lot. Rebecca's feelings were a secret.

Rebecca Johnson lived with secrets. Dark secrets, mostly.

Sirius walked through the halls of Hogwarts and suddenly his head snapped up. He just passed by the statue of the one eyed witch. He looked at the statue and suddenly had an idea. Sirius turned the other way around and slipped through a secret passageway into Hogsmeade.

What had he done wrong? Why wasn't she talking to him? They've been spending time with each other for an hour every day after class, because of the Transfiguration tutoring and all that. He thought it would be a fun experience, but really… it was dragging. All she did was listen to him, not ask any questions and talk to him when he talked to her.

It was all just so… so _irritating._

As Sirius walked down the streets of Hogsmeade, he slipped into the Hog's Head and ordered some liquor. He sat down, left with his thoughts and he drained the contents, bottle after bottle.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Regulus asked Rebecca as he kissed the side of her neck.

"Nothing," she muttered slowly.

"If you say so," said Regulus, "I love you, you know that, right?"

"Yeah," replied Rebecca. When Regulus said 'I love you', there was no hint of a soul to it. It was just said. Plain flat. No feeling, no meaning… no nothing. "I love you, too," she added.

Out of the blue, Rebecca remembered what Lily had told her last Sunday.

"_You seem to be interested in the Marauders… do you… Oh, I don't know, do you fancy one of them?" asked Lily._

"_I know you do," chuckled Rebecca._

_Lily smirked at this. "Well, I'm asking if you do."_

"_I'm not really sure."_

"_Oh, c'mon now. You can come clean. A crush doesn't hurt anybody. So, who is it?"_

_Rebecca laughed. "Oh, it's James Potter, Lily, it really is," she teased._

_Lily chuckled as well. "You wish," she said._

Rebecca stood up. "Where are you off to?" asked Regulus.

Rebecca opened her mouth to answer but then closed it right away. Regulus gave her a look. Rebecca finally said, "With luck… forward." And she left without another word.

Rebecca didn't leave the Great Hall, but she left for Gryffindor table instead. She stood behind a girl with red hair. "Lily?" she called out.

Lily turned her head round and looked at Rebecca, who was against the light. "Yeah?" she replied.

"I need to talk to you," answered Rebecca. Lily glanced quickly at James and then got up from the Gryffindor table. "Do you think we can go out of the Hall first?"

Lily nodded and said, "Of course."

The two girls walked out of the Hall. When Lily closed the door shut, she asked Rebecca, "What is it?"

"I've got something going on, and I need to let it out. You're the only person I can tell this to."

"You can't even tell it to Regulus?"

"Oh, no," Rebecca shook her head quickly, "Especially not him."

"How about Bellatrix?"

Rebecca shook her head again. "She wouldn't understand," she said.

"Well… what about Snape? He's a good listener and he understands a lot of things."

"I know," Rebecca sighed. "But he won't be of any help with what I would say."

"And I would?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"I hope so," Rebecca answered.

"Alright then," Lily leaned on the wall. "Tell me."

"Well, remember last Sunday when you asked me if I fancy one of the Marauders?"

"Yeah."

Rebecca took a deep breath, "I think I may have feelings for Sirius."

Lily looked at her incredulously. "You say it as if it's a death sentence," she stated.

"It probably is!" Rebecca's eyes widened and she said heatedly, "I'm kinda, sorta dating Regulus _because of Sirius, _I'm in love—which is not in my nature, by the way—_because of Sirius _and I feel so guilty _because of Sirius!_"

"He just had a more productive day than he thought," Lily muttered, "Well, why are you dating Regulus because of Sirius?"

Rebecca took a while before answering. "It's a bit embarrassing," she replied.

"Go on."

"Well, I'm scared to let Sirius know about me. It's so weird—I have this strange feeling that Sirius feels the same way, but he and I are just too scared to grab it—"

"You're right about that," Lily muttered again.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Lily waved an airy hand. "Go on," she added.

"Anyway, I think I like Regulus because of Sirius."

"You _think _you like him, or you do?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said, "I like Reg because of Sirius. He looks like Sirius, he's Sirius' brother, I always spend time with him since he's Slytherin like me, he's in the Quidditch team like I am—need I say more?"

"No," Lily smiled, "I get it. Anyway, you said you're in love because of Sirius. And it's not in your nature?"

"No, it's not. I've never fallen in love before," Rebecca sighed, "Ew. It sounds so cheesy when I say it like that."

"It sure does," Lily smiled again.

"Falling in love is a nice feeling. But at the same time, it's scary. And creepy. I bet you know what I mean," Rebecca lowered her voice meaningfully, "What with James Potter and all."

Lily nodded. Then she said, "Then you said you feel guilty—because of Sirius."

"Yeah," Rebecca answered frankly, "I've been avoiding him."

"Because of Regulus."

"Yeah. You know what scares me the most? It's that Sirius is _right there_—but I can't get to him. Plus, I saw him walk out of the Great Hall just a few moments ago…"

Lily thought for a while. Should she tell Rebecca that Sirius feels the same way about her? _No, _Lily scolded herself_._

"Sirius said he was going to the common room," Lily said, "You wanna see him?"

"No," Rebecca answered, "he probably left dinner because he wanted some time alone anyway."

* * *

"Sirius…" a voice whispered.

"Hmmpfh," Sirius grunted. He had his head on one of the tables of the Hog's Head, sleepy as hell.

"Sirius."

"Go away, Remus," Sirius said, "I don't want you here."

"I don't care," Remus answered firmly, "You're lucky I followed you out of the Great Hall. You would be in so much trouble if anyone else finds out about this!"

Sirius shifted his arm's position, but he accidentally knocked one of the bottles on his table to the floor. "So sue me," he muttered.

"Look at this!" Remus scolded him, "It's _disgusting_. Quit acting like a pig, this is no time to get drunk—"

"I'm not drunk, Remus. I'm just—"

"Very, very tipsy," Remus finished the sentence for him, "There's almost no difference."

Remus stood up and pulled Sirius by the back of his shirt. "_Get up,_" Remus hissed. He's always cut his friends a lot of slack, but this time, Sirius went too far.

"I'll get up when Rebecca finally talks to me again," Sirius replied.

"I know that you like her, Sirius. I get it that you like her. I don't get _why _you like her, but I know you do. Most likely, she likes you too, now _get up!_"

"No," Sirius replied.

Remus sighed. "Get up or I _will_ hex you, Sirius Black. I'll hex you into a hideous creature so that no one, not even Rebecca, will bother talking to you ever again."

Sirius said nothing but he got up from his chair and rubbed his eyes. "It's a Thursday, Sirius," Remus shook his head as he helped his friend out of the Hog's Head, "How do you expect to go to class tomorrow, like this?"

"Then I won't go to class at all," Sirius yawned, "It pisses me off."

"What does?" asked Remus.

"Her going out with my brother. It's _disgusting,_" Sirius frowned, "I know Regulus better than she does, and I know he's no good for her."

"Why do you care so much, Sirius?" Remus wondered. "You've liked a lot of other girls before. Some of them hate you after some time, but you've never been like this because of them."

Sirius pushed Remus and almost shouted, "Because I love her! I love her, okay, Moony?"

Remus cocked his head to one side. "I don't believe this. You've only known her for a week or so," he said.

"One week!" Sirius laughed. "That was all it took. One week was all that was needed for me to get to love her… I mean, this is so stupid—I feel so down inside and I have that stinking feeling in my guts because I love her and I know it's her fault, that _bitch._"

Remus widened his eyes at what Sirius said. Yup, Sirius was definitely drunk. "How many bottles have you had, Padfoot?"

"Oh, I don't know," Sirius waved an airy hand as he and Remus entered Hogwarts through the one eyed witch, "I lost count."

Remus closed the secret passageway and suddenly, Peter's voice called out, "What're you two doing?"

Sirius and Remus looked at Peter and saw James and Lily with him.

"I thought you went to the common room," James told Sirius.

"I did."

"No you didn't," Remus frowned. "You went straight to the Hog's Head."

James' eyes widened. He didn't expect Sirius to do that.

"It's because of _her, _isn't it?" asked Lily.

Sirius rubbed his eyes and nodded once.

"Well, I'm telling you, Sirius—you shouldn't be moping around," James shrugged.

"What?" Sirius muttered.

"I'm just saying," James said knowingly, "It looks like Lily's gonna get those Animagi lessons after all."

* * *

**i kind of feel bad that lily tells the marauders about becca's feelings... BUT DON'T FRET! it's not what you think. ;)**

**okay, pop quiz! HOW DO YOU THINK REBECCA AND SIRIUS WILL WORK OUT THEIR "LOVE" FOR EACH OTHER WITH REGULUS IN THE WAY??? ;)**

**Reviews, lovelies!**


	17. A Short Letter

**hi everyone :) so, here's chapter seventeen! by the way, the third hamster died. :( so i'm left with two of them, remus and sirius.**

**okay, so i'd like to reply to some reviews. here goes:**

**caragrace, yes! i just totally love avpm.**

**elleyou, thanks! here's the seventeenth chapter for you to enjoy. hope you like it!**

**naflower05, thanks!**

**leo, no, i don't think so... i've got a special spot for remus, you see. in fact, i've got another story about him. heck, i have a hamster named remus! besides, sirius needed to keep his cool so that it wasn't obvious to rebecca that remus' werewolf condition was actually true. if sirius got all panicky, then rebecca would've found out for sure by now. get it? :)**

**lol, so there you guys go! thanks for all the reviews, people.**

* * *

17. A SHORT LETTER

"_You changed my whole life. Don't know what you're doing to me with your love. I'm feeling all superhuman you did that to me, a superhuman heart beats in me."_

_- Superhuman by Chris Brown and Keri Hilson_

"James!" Lily pulled James into a private corner the moment she and the Marauders entered the common room.

"Whoa, Lily," James laughed. Then he raised an eyebrow, "Wanna make out?"

Lily scoffed and rolled her eyes, "James. I feel guilty about this."

The smile on James' face got wiped off. "About what? Making out?" he asked.

"No!" Lily rolled her eyes again, "About telling you and your friends what Rebecca told me."

"Why?" James asked, dense.

"_Why? _You're asking me _why? _How would you feel if you were in her shoes? Or in Sirius' shoes?"

"I don't know about being in Rebecca's shoes, but I guess I have a hint about being in Sirius' shoes."

Lily crossed her arms. "And how does it make you feel?"

James pondered on this for a while. "Uhm," he replied, "I don't really get why Sirius likes her this much. I mean, she's hot and all that, but she's scary. I understand the fact that guys like her from a far, but for a guy to chase her? Oh, _come on. _That's ridiculous. Even _she's_ not worth _that._"

Lily's jaw dropped. "You are a mean jerk, James Potter," she muttered and shook her head.

"Well, you asked me what I thought about it!" James said defensively.

"I asked you how you would feel if you were Sirius, _genius!_"

James looked at Sirius, his best friend. "Well, he looks wasted right now—literally, too—so I guess it must be hard on him. He must really like her. Last time I saw him like this over a girl was when… was when… when…"

"What?" Lily asked.

James looked dazed, "Never. Sirius was never like this over a girl."

"See?" Lily said in a triumphant tone in her voice.

"So, what are you trying to say?"

Lily smiled and said, "I'm trying to tell you that I _shouldn't_ tell you what Rebecca told me."

James frowned at this. "Do you want those Animagi lessons or not?" he asked.

"It's not a matter of Animagi lessons anymore! What matters is Sirius and Rebecca's feelings about the situation," Lily defended.

"Are you dead serious?"

"Yes. And if you really like me, James, you'd be helping me about this—not pulling me down."

James leaned on the wall and looked at Lily. For a moment there, he fell more in love with her. She was such a considerate person. James didn't even argue anymore.

"Alright," he relented.

Lily smiled and pecked him on the cheek. James felt his face turn hot.

"Sirius," Lily turned around and called out. Sirius looked up at her with a poker face on. "I've come to a conclusion," Lily said, business-like, "that I _won't _tell you what Rebecca told me."

"_What?_" Sirius, Peter and Remus said in unison, disappointed.

"Yes. I won't say it."

Sirius stood up. "But why not?" he begged.

"Because it's very private. If you really want to know what she told me, why don't you ask her yourself?"

Sirius rubbed his eyes. "Lily, you know I can't do that. She's not talking to me. Heck, she's not even allowing herself to be near me within ten meters!"

"Don't exaggerate, Sirius—"

"I'm not!" Sirius held his hands out. "I feel so screwed up."

There was a moment of silence. "Well," Peter suddenly piped up, "you could always try the next best thing."

"And that is?" asked Sirius.

"Write to her."

Sirius laughed out loud. "As if," he scoffed. "That's sissy."

"No," Remus objected, "Getting drunk because of a girl is sissy."

"I told you, Remus, I'm not drunk!"

"But you're high," Remus insisted.

"…no."

"Oh, just shut up, both of you!" Lily raised her voice. "Sirius, why don't you take Peter's advice? Write her a letter."

"You really think that's gonna work?" asked James.

"Well, knowing what Rebecca feels, I'm sure that it will," Lily smirked.

Sirius flipped out his wand and summoned a parchment, a quill and an ink bottle. He sat on the table, quill in hand. Silence. He inhaled and said, "What am I going to write?"

"Dear Becca—" Peter said.

"No, no!" James cut him off. "Don't put 'Dear'. That's cheesy."

Sirius wrote down on the parchment, '_Becca—_'.

James said, "Why aren't you talking to me?"

"No, that's too straightforward, James," Lily intruded. "Hmm… how about, 'I don't know if you're mad at me, but I'd really like to talk to you'."

Sirius wrote down what Lily said.

Remus suggested, "You could say, 'I have important things to tell you and it'll keep bugging me until I let you know'."

Sirius wrote on the parchment. He dipped his quill into the ink bottle then waited for another suggestion.

"I really wish you'd respond this time," Peter muttered and Sirius wrote.

James smiled and blurted out, "If I mean anything to you, meet me tomorrow at—"

"What? No!" Sirius objected and put down his quill. "That's too embarrassing!"

"It's the truth, though. Isn't it?" asked James.

"Yes, but—"

"And you do want to let her know that you like her?"

Sirius sighed, "Yeah, I do, but then—"

"_And_ you don't want her to be stuck with your brother now, do you?" James crossed his arms.

"No, that's digusting. How about—"

"Then write down what I'm saying!"

Sirius and James had a staring match for a while in silence. Out of the blue, Sirius blinked and muttered, "Fine."

James smirked again. He said, "If I mean anything to you, meet me tomorrow during the last free period in Greenhouse six. If you're still not there after an hour, I swear I'll never bother to bother you again."

Lily sniggered at the last line James said.

Sirius wrote down everything before looking up at James, saying, "I have to wait for her in Greenhouse six for a _whole hour?_"

"You're willing to, aren't you?" Peter asked.

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I guess so," he replied. Sirius signed the letter then put it in an envelope and sealed it. He opened the nearest window and put two fingers in his mouth and blew hard to make a loud whistle. In just a matter of seconds, a spotted owl was perched on his arm. "Take this to Rebecca Johnson," he muttered to the owl and it flew of straight away.

* * *

In the Slytherin common room, Regulus and Rebecca were seated on a couch. Regulus slid his arms around Rebecca's waist and she ran her fingers through Regulus' dark hair. He pulled her closer and Rebecca took a deep breath, inhaling the distinctive scent of Regulus when—

_Tap, tap, tap._

There was a tapping on the glass window. Rebecca turned her head sharply to where the sound was coming from. "It's an owl," she told Regulus. Rebecca left the couch and opened the window, allowing the spotted owl to come in the common room. She took the letter from the owl's beak. "I wonder who it's—_oh,_" she gasped as she saw her name scribbled on the back of the envelope.

Regulus frowned. He muttered from the couch, "That's Sirius' owl. Who's the letter for?"

"Me," Rebecca answered incredulously.

"What are you talking about? Give me that," Regulus reached for the letter but Rebecca was too quick for him.

"No," she said firmly. "It isn't your letter. It's mine." Without another word, she stormed into the girls' dormitory while ripping open the letter, anxious.

Why would Sirius be writing to her? She felt relieved about his letter, at the same time a little frightened. What if she was mad at her? Was this a howler? Wait, no… howlers have red envelopes.

Rebecca took a deep breath before scanning the parchment with her eyes. It really was Sirius' handwriting.

_Becca—_

_I don't know if you're mad at me, but I'd really like to talk to you. I have important things to tell you and it'll keep bugging me until I let you know. I really wish you'd respond this time. If I mean anything to you, meet me tomorrow during the last free period in Greenhouse six. If you're still not there after an hour, I swear I'll never bother to bother you again._

_Sirius_

Rebecca absentmindedly folded the letter and placed it back inside the envelope. All of a sudden, an involuntary smile creeped up her face. The corners of her lips were tugged upward, and she suppressed a grin. Sirius cared after all. In the letter, it said, 'If I mean anything to you, meet me tomorrow', and Rebecca pondered at this.

She made her mind up—it's time to let Sirius know. She can't keep on hiding... even though that's what she's been doing all this time. No secrets are kept forever. She'd have to let Sirius know. And obviously, she must mean something to Sirius as well.

Then unexpectedly, Rebecca remembered Regulus. She just left him there back in the common room, hanging. She stormed out to read Sirius' letter. She hated to admit that she just used him—well, she really didn't, did she?

Rebecca changed for bed and tucked the letter under her pillow. She chuckled at how cheesy her love life was… or at least, she thought it was. And it wasn't a humorous chuckle either.

_Sirius Black._

That was the thought imprinted on Rebecca's mind as she drifted quietly into sleep.

* * *

**okay, for some reason, all the text is on the left side. grr. sorry. it wont work when i try to put it in the center.**


	18. You Forgot Your Scarf

**sorry for the long wait. it's christmas, guys!**

* * *

18. YOU FORGOT YOUR SCARF

"_See, this heart won't settle down like a child running scared from a clown. I'm terrified of what you do; my stomach screams just when I look at you."_

_- Catch Me by Demi Lovato_

"…and this plant is very common and easily overlooked, but it's very helpful as well. Can anyone tell me…?" asked Professor Sprout. Lily Evans raised her hand. "Yes, Miss Evans?"

"That's the Manticore. Ironic that it's named after such a dangerous magical creature, since that plant is no where near deadly. Perhaps it's because the stem looks somewhat like the tail of a Manticore beast," Lily answered.

"Excellent, five points to Gryffindor!"

The next day, the Gryffindors and Slytherins were having their last class in Greenhouse seven. Rebecca, as usual, was seated with Severus, Regulus and Bellatrix while Sirius was seated with Lily, Alice, Frank and the other Marauders. Sirius was unusually silent, and so was Rebecca. They kept glancing at each other knowingly.

Sirius knew that the class was about to end. His palms were getting sweaty and he was nervous. "You alright?" James whispered to him. "Yeah," Sirius nodded unconvincingly.

"Right then, I'm partnering you up with each other for your first Herbology project," Professor Sprout beamed at the class. "You will all take care of one Manticore plant and after a week, you're going to harvest the juice that would leak out from the stem. I also want you all to research on the effects of using Manticore juice as a medicine. Miss Evans and Mr. Snape, you will be partners…" Professor Sprout said the names of the pairs, always consisting of one Slytherin and one Gryffindor.

She continued, "Mr. Longbottom and Miss Black." Bellatrix and Frank gave each other quick glares.

Sirius was secretly hoping that he would be partnered with Rebecca, so that they would have more time together, especially to patch things up between them. Professor Sprout said, "Sirius and Regulus, pair up."

Sirius groaned inwardly. _Great, _he thought sarcastically.

Professor Sprout continued calling names until the only two people who were left were Remus and Rebecca. Finally, she said with a smile, "Miss Johnson and Mr. Lupin."

The class was silent. Most of the students didn't really like their partners. "Right then, line up and I'll give you your Manticore," Professor Sprout said.

There was a rumbling of chairs as students lined up with their partners. Remus went next to Rebecca and their arms touched but neither of them budged. The line moved as each pair got their plant.

"Here you go, Miss Johnson," Professor Sprout handed Rebecca a Manticore in a pot. As Remus and Rebecca headed for the table, Rebecca almost dropped the pot. She cursed under her breath as she sucked her bleeding fingertips.

"Careful," Remus said. "They're like roses, with the thorns and all."

"Yeah," replied Rebecca. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention."

Remus put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a white handkerchief. "Here you go," he muttered and handed Rebecca the hanky.

She clutched on the piece of white cloth. "Thanks," she said, not looking up at Remus. There was a long moment of silence and Rebecca could feel that Remus was observing her. She looked up and she was face to face with him. She sighed and said, "You want to ask me whether or not I'm going to Greenhouse six later, aren't you?"

Remus opened his mouth to answer but then closed it again, taken aback. "Uhm—well, I… yes. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry—"

"Don't worry about it. I was expecting _you_ to know about it anyway, since you're always with _him_," she jerked her head towards Sirius' direction.

"So," Remus changed the subject tentatively, "how're we going to take care of the Manticore?"

"Well, we'll just keep switching every day or so. If that's okay with you."

"Yeah, sure. I better be the first to keep it for tonight, though," Remus chuckled weakly, "You've already cut yourself."

Rebecca scoffed and shook her head, "I'll be more careful next time. How're we going to collect the juice? Phials?"

"Yeah," Remus nodded. "And droppers, too."

"I own some droppers and phials, we can use mine."

"Alright, everyone's dismissed!" Professor Sprout clapped her hands thrice. "Don't forget you should all have the juice collected by next week!"

The class dispersed and left the greenhouse. Remus and Rebecca were walking a bit slower than the others, since they got along better than the other pairs. "Have you stopped bleeding?" asked Remus.

"I think I have," Rebecca checked her fingers. Remus reached for his hanky but Rebecca jerked it away and said, "No—it's got my blood all over it. I'll wash it off first before giving it back."

Remus chuckled at this, "No, it's alright, I'll do it myself."

"No," Rebecca persisted. "It's embarrassing. You should at least get your hanky back when it's clean."

"Give it to me. I insist," Remus grabbed his hanky. He pointed his wand at it and said, "Episkey." The blood disappeared as if Remus' wand vacuumed it all away. "See?"

"Alright, fine," Rebecca relented. "Thanks anyway."

"You're welcome," Remus said politely like a gentleman. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you," Rebecca took a step backwards, "Oh, and by the way—I _am_ going to Greenhouse six, if that's what you wanted to know."

Remus smiled at her and said, "Good luck."

Rebecca smiled back and watched Remus go. He really wasn't so bad after all—in fact, he was kind of cute—and Rebecca could've slapped herself when she remembered the time when she snapped words harshly at Remus.

Finally, Rebecca was alone. She looked to the right and there it was: Greenhouse six. She hadn't seen Sirius enter...

Rebecca walked quietly and she found the place eerie when there were no sounds of students around. She had never been to the Greenhouses except for Herbology classes. Plants really weren't her thing. She pushed open the glass door of Greenhouse six and she found that she was alone. Or so she thought.

"Hello?" Rebecca called out. Her voice bounced on the walls.

She was beginning to get freaked out. She really found it eerie in here—

"Becca."

Rebecca turned sharply around and gasped at the sound. Suddenly, she found herself face to face with none other than Sirius Black. He stared at her, his expression unreadable. Rebecca evened her breathing as she inched away from the Venomous Tentacula hissing on her left.

"Sirius," she muttered back.

They stared at each other. "Why did you ask me to come here?" asked Rebecca after a while.

"I'm actually surprised you decided to come."

Rebecca didn't answer. Sirius continued, "I thought you wouldn't respond, you know. Just like what you've been doing to me this week."

Rebecca sighed. "Look," she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't do it because I was mad at you." She took out an envelope from her pocket. It was the short letter Sirius had sent her last night. "'Becca,'" she read out loud from the letter, "'I don't know if you're mad at me, but I'd really like to talk to you.' Well, here's your chance, Sirius."

This time, it was Sirius who didn't reply. Rebecca grimaced and read the next part of the letter. "'I have important things to tell you and it'll keep bugging me until I let you know. I really wish you'd respond this time," she looked back up at him, "You wanted me to respond and now I'm here."

There was a moment of silence. No one spoke. Until—"What did you want to tell me?" Rebecca asked Sirius slowly, tentatively.

Sirius looked back at her and chuckled without humour. "I want to know _why_ you've been avoiding me."

Rebecca opened her mouth, her expression defensive. But she closed her mouth without answering. Then she said, "…I don't think I can tell you that right now."

Sirius clenched his jaw and then suddenly walked forward, causing Rebecca to take a few steps back until the wall blocked her path. Without warning, Sirius put his hands on the wall on either side of Rebecca, trapping her in between his arms.

Rebecca was taken aback but nevertheless, she still looked at Sirius' eyes. It was intense—raging with questions that she knew he could just not bring himself to say out loud. Sirius whispered close to her in an almost angry tone, "How long are you going to make me wait until you're satisfied?"

Rebecca slowly put the letter back in her pocket. "You wrote," she told him as she took a deep breath and inhaled his scent, "that if you meant _anything_ to me, I should go to Greenhouse six."

Sirius calmed down a little as he heard this.

"Well, I'm here," said Rebecca as she composed herself, "So obviously, you must mean _something_ to me."

Sirius removed his hands from the wall and turned his back on Rebecca. "And do I?" he asked.

Rebecca didn't take her time in answering Sirius' question. "Yes," she replied, "and that's _why_ I've been avoiding you."

Sirius still didn't look at her. "How about my brother?" he asked, slight bitterness in his voice.

"He's not important right now," Rebecca replied, "he never was. I'm ashamed to say that I _may _have used him. But I'd rather be ashamed than be a liar."

Sirius asked, "Why, though?"

The corners of Rebecca's lips were pulled upward as she told Sirius, "It's your fault if I did use him in any way."

Sirius raised an eyebrow and smirked. "You're a horrible person, you are."

There was a moment of silence before Sirius said, "I like you, Becca. A lot. I really do."

There was another moment of silence as Rebecca said nothing in return. "Do you feel the same way?" Sirius asked boldly.

"What answer do you want to hear?" Rebecca asked, leaning on the wall, her eyes gleaming.

"Lie to me."

Rebecca looked at the ground, suppressed a small smile then said, "No. I don't feel the same way. In fact, Sirius, I hate you. I hate you so much that I can stand a lifetime avoiding you, just like what I've been doing this week."

"Liar," he growled. He walked up to her swiftly and put his arms around her. And then—

* * *

In the Gryffindor common room, Peter, James and Remus were all waiting for Sirius. "So," James said lazily, "partners with Rebecca, eh Moony?"

"Yeah," Remus replied. "She's alright."

"See?" Peter commented.

"Lucky you," James said, "I'm stuck with that Avery bastard."

"Ugh, he's a nightmare," Peter shuddered.

"What do you think is happening right now in Greenhouse six, Prongs?" asked Remus.

"If it's bad, then Rebecca must be murdering Sirius. Or vice versa," James waved an airy hand and made a face. "If it's good," he continued, "then they must be… I dunno, making up with each other. They'll be friends again."

"_Or_ they're making out," Peter laughed and the other two boys laughed with him as well.

"Yeah, 'cause there's never a dull moment with Sirius," Prongs said as he pushed his glasses up closer to his eyes.

"When you say that, it almost sounds sexual," Remus teased.

"Oh, _I'm sorry_, Moony," James bit back, "I didn't know that you already had your eyes on him."

"Why are we talking about this?" Peter asked, confused.

No one was able to reply because they heard someone climb in the portrait hole. They all looked hopefully at the entrance of the common room.

"Guys?" Sirius' voice called out.

"Padfoot!" James laughed. Sirius entered the common room and slumped on the couch. He was wearing a poker face and his friends were staring at him. He looked up at them and frowned. "What?" he asked.

"Well?" Remus chuckled throatily, "How'd it go?"

Sirius switched to a lazier position and sighed. "It was… good."

His friends frowned. "What do you mean by it was 'good'?" asked James.

"It went well," Sirius nodded once.

"And how exactly did it go…?" Peter pushed.

"I was in Greenhouse six. She was in Greenhouse six. We talked. We apologized. We joked around. We explained."

James said, "Did you even tell her how you felt about her at all?"

"Of course I did," Sirius said defensively. He wanted to keep his friends in suspense. It was rather fun, he thought.

"…and?"

Sirius sighed again and smiled, "And then she told me about _her _feelings."

"What were her feelings?" Peter asked, his mouth half open.

"The same," Sirius replied.

"The same?" James frowned. "You guys both pull on the drama factor and when you're finally alone in a Greenhouse to talk and do anything you want, when we ask you how she felt about you, all you can say it 'the same'?!"

Sirius threw his head back and laughed heartily. "You know what I mean," he waved an airy hand.

"Did you kiss?" Peter asked.

Sirius stood up and yawned. It was like he never heard Peter's question. "Good night, guys. I've had a long day. I'm sleepy."

"But it's only seven at night," Remus' eyes narrowed.

"Oh?" Sirius looked at the grandfather clock, "Wow. I've broken a record, then!" He beamed at them.

Just as Sirius was about to go upstairs to the boys' dormitory, someone started knocking on the common room entrance. When Remus opened the door, it was Rebecca.

"Rebecca?" Remus asked, surprised. Sirius' head snapped to the doorway. "What're you doing here? How'd you get in?"

"The Fat Lady let me in," she replied simply. "I know the password."

"Great, now we've got to change it," James commented and Rebecca stuck her tongue out at him.

"Sirius," Rebecca looked at Sirius who was on the stairs, "You forgot your scarf."

Rebecca was holding a woollen scarf that had the Gryffindor colours striped on it. Sirius immediately went to her and took the scarf. "Thanks," he said quietly.

"Yeah, don't mention it," she muttered. Before leaving she said, "See you tomorrow."

When Rebecca left, James, Remus and Peter stared at Sirius with knowing and teasing expressions on their faces. Sirius pretended not to notice. He smiled as them and put the scarf over his shoulder.

"Well," Sirius grinned, "Good night, guys."


	19. Mud Turns Into Clear Water

**GUYS! I'm so so so sorry for the really long wait! I had a lot going on. I went back to where I was last christmas for my cousin's debut-- i was part of cotillion and I'm her cousin, so I couldn't bear to decline; there were so much problems at school, like really awful problems and i was really put off about it for a long time and i couldn't write, otherwise, it'll end up in tragedy and emo-ness. then, our intramurals just ended yesterday...**

**anyway, here's the latest chapter! OOOH, I SEE A FRIENDSHIP COMING ON... OR MAYBE IT'S MORE???**

**read and review, please!**

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19. MUD TURNS INTO CLEAR WATER

The next day, Rebecca and Sirius didn't see much of each other. In fact, they didn't see each other at all. There were no Gryffindor-Slytherin classes that day. It was already nearing sunset, after classes. Everyone was inside the castle. Except Rebecca.

She was taking a nice walk in Hogwarts grounds. With her hands in her pocket, she smiled as she remembered the confrontation at the greenhouse.

"_I like you, Becca. A lot. I really do," said Sirius. "Do you feel the same way?"_

_Rebecca leaned on the wall, her heart pounding. "What answer do you want to hear?"_

"_Lie to me."_

"_No. I don't feel the same way. In fact, Sirius, I hate you. I hate you so much that I can stand a lifetime avoiding you, just like what I've been doing this week," Rebecca gave a small smile._

_And before she knew it, she was stumbling against the wall, her whole body in Sirius' arms, their lips crashing against each other. And neither of them complained._

Rebecca stopped in her tracks. She sensed she wasn't alone. She turned her head to the side and tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. Someone was sitting on a bench, reading a book, oblivious to her presence. Rebecca smiled. "Hey, Remus."

Remus' head snapped upward, attention torn away from the book he was holding in his hands. "Hey, Becca," he smiled back.

Rebecca walked forward right in front of Remus and asked, "Mind if I take a seat?"

"No, not at all." Remus moved to make some space for her. Rebecca sat beside Remus and peered over to his lap. "What're you reading?" she asked.

"Just some muggle novel. Shakespeare… ever heard of him?"

Rebecca chuckled weakly, "Of course I have. He's written so much literature. A few of my favorites are 'The Phoenix and The Turtle' and 'The Rape of Lucrece'… I see you're reading 'The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'. An often overrated love story, if you ask me."

Remus closed his book. "How so?" he asked.

"I just find it really weird. Like, Romeo was so in love with Rosaline and when he went to the Capulets' party, he saw Juliet and immediately, he had no care in the world for Rosaline. I mean, what's that about?" Rebecca scoffed.

"Ah, so you've read it?" Remus stood up. "C'mon, let's go for a walk."

Rebecca stood up as well and they strolled down the grounds side by side. "Go on and tell me what you think," Remus suddenly said.

"You honestly wanna hear me bash on the book you're reading?"

Remus chuckled.

Rebecca ran a hand through her hair. "Well, I think it's a must-read book. But of course, I see a lot of exaggerations there. For example, the same night Romeo and Juliet meet each other, they kiss. One kiss! That was all it took for Juliet to fall in love with Romeo as well. And she's only about fourteen or thirteen years old. Nobody finds true love at that age."

"How are you so sure?"

"Have you ever heard of couples meeting at that age and living happily ever after?"

"Romeo and Juliet didn't live happily ever after," Remus commented. "Anyway, there are some cases. But rare cases. Don't you think maybe Romeo and Juliet could be one of those rare cases?"

"No," Rebecca answered frankly and boldly. "The proof is Rosaline. Romeo's feelings switched too hastily from Rosaline to Juliet. And Romeo was only around sixteen at that time."

"About our age," Remus muttered.

"Oh, and they marry the next day. Romeo and Juliet."

Remus nodded and chuckled. "You're witty, you know that? Why aren't you in Ravenclaw?"

Rebecca shrugged. "I guess the Hat didn't see it fit for me to be in Ravenclaw. I may have come from Beauxbatons, but… my whole family's been in Slytherin."

"Well, look at Sirius! His whole family's been in Slytherin, too."

Rebecca's smile faded. "Yes, well… Sirius isn't like a Slytherin. He's not like his family."

"How do you know how his family his like?" Remus asked curiously.

Rebecca answered quickly, "Context clues!"

"Right," Remus said slowly.

"Besides," Rebecca continued, "I'm not fit to be anywhere but Slytherin. I can't be in Gryffindor. I'm not that brave. I can't be in Hufflepuff. I'm not as hard-working as the students there. And I can't be in Ravenclaw, I'm not as smart as them. I can only be in Slytherin because I'm—" Rebecca stopped in mid-sentence.

Remus let this go unnoticed. "The Hat takes your choice into account, you know."

"Really?"

Remus nodded. There was a short moment of silence before Remus spoke again. "So what went on in Greenhouse six?"

"That's for me to know and for you to _not _know. It's private," smirked Rebecca.

Remus raised both his hands in defense. "Sorry," he smiled. "So," he changed the subject, "Why did you transfer to Hogwarts?"

Rebecca took a while to answer. "It's a long story."

Remus said tentatively, "I'm a good listener."

"Well, I don't really want to bring this up. So let's just say, I was accused of something I didn't do."

"Well, then if you didn't do it, why were you expelled?"

"Because," Rebecca sighed, "The school thought I was dangerous. That I could do more stuff like that whether I mean it or not."

There was a moment of silence. "I'm sorry," Remus muttered.

"No, it's okay, don't worry about it."

"So, how's our plant? I gave it to you earlier at lunch, didn't I?"

"Yeah, thanks too. Our plant's fine, don't worry about it. The sap's not ready yet, though."

Remus and Rebecca noticed that the stars were already out and the sun was nowhere to be seen anymore. The moon was bright into the sky and it was three quarters full. Remus looked tensed.

"You alright?" asked Rebecca. Remus didn't answer, still gazing up at the moon. All of a sudden, he asked, "What if… what if you meet a person like… well, like what you said earlier."

"What did I say earlier?"

"'The school thought I was dangerous. That I could do more stuff like that whether I mean it or not'," Remus quoted her.

"You mean, if I meet someone like me?"

Remus nodded. "What would you do if you meet a person like that? And you become friends? Would you stay away from that person or would you keep your friendship?"

"I would keep it," Rebecca answered in a firm tone. "I'd keep it because I know how that person is feeling and we can share the pain together. One doesn't have to suffer alone. That's why we have friends—to give us comfort and to ease the hurt." She smiled at him. Remus thought she had a beautiful, radiant smile. A smile that can make mud turn into clear water.

Remus smiled back at her and replied gently, "I thought so, too."

* * *

**for some reason, I also feel as if Rebecca and Remus are great together... you would feel the same way if you knew Rebecca's past. ;) reviews, please!**


	20. A Truth with A Consequence

**guys, i apologize for such a crappy chapter. :( it's sunday and every sunday is busy for me since monday is the next day-- we all know how thats like :D anyway, please read the chapter well, there's more narration than dialogue. i'm not pleased with this chapter as i HAD TO RUSH IT.**

**please be patient with me. :) R&R :)  
**

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20. A TRUTH WITH A CONSEQUENCE

As curfew drew nearer, Remus and Rebecca walked back together inside the castle. They were really the only ones out.

"Hey, can we take a seat for a while?" asked Remus, "My shoelaces got undone." Rebecca chuckled and they both sat next to each other on the steps of a staircase. They tossed their bags to one side and Remus noticed that they were wearing the same model. "Nice bag," he said.

Rebecca wondered, "What?" Remus pointed to their bags that laid against each other. "Oh," Rebecca smiled. "We've got the same model."

"Yeah," Remus muttered. As he stood up, he and Rebecca both heard voices on the other end of the hall, not too far away. Rebecca recognized those voices immediately. "Oh no," she said through gritted teeth.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked her. Rebecca checked if they were coming close and she immediately snatched her bag from the floor. "That's Regulus and his pals—I shouldn't be here. He can't see me, I said I was going to the library—"

"Are you hiding from him?"

"Yes!" Rebecca answered, exasperated. "God, they're getting close—he's going to throw a fit if he sees me with a Gryffindor, he's been like that ever since our fling cut off—"

"Alright, you go ahead," Remus pushed her away gently.

"What? How about you?" asked Rebecca quickly. "I'll be fine, I'm a prefect, just go," Remus replied.

Rebecca wasted not a second more and ran swiftly out using the other side of the hall. She was just in time, because the moment she was gone, Regulus and his aspiring death eater friends just turned over the corner. Remus pretended as if he had no idea that he wasn't alone in the hallway and he bent over to get his bag from the floor. He turned around to go back to the common room, but a hand on his shoulder halted him. "Lupin," Regulus sneered. "Have you seen Rebecca?"

Remus stared at him for a while, but he kept his composure. "No," he said. Regulus didn't let go of his shoulder and asked again, "Then how come I heard voices in here?"

"What voices? I was just passing by this hallway. It's a shortcut to the Gryffindor common room," Remus shoved away Regulus' hand. "What're you doing out with your friends at this hour?"

"Look who's talking," Regulus snapped back. "You're out too, aren't you? And full moon's not far from today, now," he smirked.

Remus said sharply, "If you're forgetting, _Black_, I am a prefect. And if you don't want to get yourself into real trouble, just head back to your dorm and leave me alone."

Remus walked away, he had the last word as he wanted, but Regulus called after him. "Full moon, Lupin. Full moon," and he and his friends sniggered. Remus pretended not to hear them, turned around a corner and left those Slytherins for good.

It didn't take long for Remus to reach the common room; besides, that hallway really was a shortcut. When he arrived, he went straight to the boys' dormitory and found his friends play a game of Exploding Snap. "Remus!" Sirius boomed in a loud voice, "Where the bloody hell have you been?"

"Ah, I've been out. For a walk, you know," he smiled. "Psh," James huffed, "It's so difficult to find you these days. You're too erratic, Moony mate." Remus chuckled and flung his back to the floor next to his bed, just like he always did. However, he heard glass break as the bag hit the floor. Remus frowned and wondered, confused. He didn't have anything breakable in his bag. As he opened it, he saw that the contents of the bag weren't his. There were only two things inside: a thick, battered book and a glass jar broken into pieces, and it contained what looked like glass pebbles. He took out the book, careful not to be cut by the pieces of broken glass. The book was entitled, 'Rare Healing Potions and The Proof of Their Existence'. He remembered this book. He saw it in the library not too long ago, the same night he met Rebecca, and the same night she borrowed it as well.

There was a silver and emerald green bookmark inserted in the book. Remus curiously opened it to the page and he saw that the article was about a curious little thing called 'The Hevelin Stone'. He read the article.

_THE HEVELIN STONE_

_The Hevelin Stone is a kind of clear crystal, taken from pebbles found nearby large bodies of water (e.g. lakes, waterfalls, rivers). This stone is most famous for restoring energy at the moment it is swallowed, but it also contains a very powerful medicinal substance. The Hevelin Stone is very rare, as it can only be collected on the first day of winter, during the first half hour of twilight._

_Despite how dangerous this stone is, it is the sole medicine for a usually fatal disease called 'Corazon Mabuz', literally meaning 'heart' and 'death'. This is a muggle disease, but wizards have acquired it because of muggle blood (e.g. marrying muggles). It is rare both among muggles and wizards, but the disease has proved to be fatal. No one knows the cause of such a sickness that results into heart stopping._

_The Hevelin Stone is dangerous because it can both hinder the heart from stopping, but there is a risk of overworking the cardiac muscle, thus resulting in instant death as well._

Below the article was a photograph of the Hevelin Stone. It was the exact same stone Remus saw inside the bag. He got one and examined it, and realization dawned on him.

Rebecca needed these transparent pebbles at all times. He gathered up her things, even getting cut accidentally by a piece of glass, and he ran out of the boys' dormitory. His friends called after him, but he didn't stop.

Where was he supposed to go? He didn't know where the Slytherin common room was—he didn't know where Rebecca went. Finally, he decided to just go back to where he last saw her. He walked briskly back to the hallway where they last met, slightly panting. Everything was eerie. There were no more lights except for the fire of the torches perched on the walls. Remus remembered seeing Rebecca run out of the hallway. He followed where he saw her go, and he turned around a corner. He walked a little more and he passed by a narrow hallway which was dark.

For some reason, that particular hallway intrigued and frightened him. He took two steps back then turned his head to the right. There was nothing he could see. He drew out his wand and said, "Lumos."

Rebecca was unconscious on the floor.

Remus ran fast to her, kneeling on the floor. "Rebecca! Rebecca, can you hear me? Wake up!"

She remained unresponsive.

"Shit," Remus cursed loudly. He held her wrist and was relieved to feel a pulse, even though it was a weak one. He opened the bag he brought with him and took out one of the Hevelin Stones and forced one into her throat. With his wand, he cast a spell, "Aguamenti," and put Rebecca's body on his lap.

Suddenly, she began coughing and gasping and Remus didn't know if she was choking or if the Hevelin Stone had taken effect. She immediately regained her composure and when she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see Remus.

"Remus?" she whispered. "What the hell happened?"

Remus showed her their bags. "We accidentally exchanged them."

There was a moment of silence.

"You know?" Rebecca asked in a cold tone.

"I—yes. I'm sorry…"

"There's nothing to be sorry about," Rebecca gave Remus his bag and got hers from him. "You shouldn't have come," she said. "You should've just left me alone."

"Rebecca…"

Rebecca stood up quickly and put a hand against the wall to help with her balance. "I said leave me alone," she repeated as she was tearing up.

"You should be thanking me!" Remus fired up. "I ran back for you, I saved your life! If I didn't come, you would be dead by now!"

"And that's how I want it to be," Rebecca snapped back and Remus looked aghast. "I said leave me alone."

Rebecca turned to leave but Remus grabbed her arm.

"Get lost!" Rebecca shouted. She jerked away from Remus, then shoved all the Hevelin Stones from her bag to the floor.

* * *

**question of the chapter: why do you think rebecca was acting that way after remus helped her? /:)**


	21. ATTENTION, READERS!

FOR ALL THE READERS—

I'm so terribly sorry for not updating this story for who-knows-how-long. I just wanted you to know that I am NOT abandoning this story. Okay, fine, at first I did abandon it, but then I realized that it was such a good story, I couldn't just leave it! So, I'd ask a favor from all of you: Please pitch in your ideas! What do you guys want to happen? ;) I promise I'll consider all your thoughts. :) And please be patient. I am currently working on Chapter 21, and will be posting it when I'm done writing.

Thank you, all!


	22. Every Time You Lie

**thanks to BRIANNA JOHNSON for beta-ing this story :D**

**hope you like this chappie... it's been a long time since i wrote fanfic!  
**

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21. EVERY TIME YOU LIE

"_You still love her, I can see it in your eyes. The truth is all that I can hear every time you lie."_

_Every Time You Lie by Demi Lovato_

Three days later, Remus still had no word from Rebecca. To his dismay, he gave the pebbles to Severus Snape. He told him to give them to Rebecca. Severus only nodded curtly and Remus was relieved when Severus didn't ask any questions.

One sleepy afternoon, the Slytherins and the Gyffindors were having History of Magic together. James sat behind Lily and Sirius sat next to James. Remus and Peter sat together, and Severus and Rebecca were two rows behind them. All was quiet. All was boring.

As usual, Sirius and James were having whispered conversations, and occasionally, James would poke Lily in the back to catch her attention. This annoyed Lily. Sirius and Rebecca were passing notes as well. Meanwhile, Peter had his head on the desk, fiddling with his tiny fingers and Remus tried desperately to stay awake.

"Psst," Remus heard. He looked around, but no one seemed to be looking at him. He thought maybe it was just James and Sirius playing around. "Psst!" He heard again. Remus turned his head to look. Remus 'tsk'ed and looked back to the blackboard.

Then someone threw him a crumpled piece of paper, which landed on his desk. Remus looked around again, but there seemed to be no one wanting to talk to him at a time like this.

Just as the class was dismissed, Remus pocketed the crumpled ball of paper thrown at him. Everyone was scurrying out of the classroom, ready for lunch.

"Mooooooony," Sirius yawned. "I can't believe I was able to stay up during that awful lesson. Hmmph. Let's go down and get some food."

"You guys go ahead, I'll just catch up," Remus muttered. His friends shrugged and left the classroom. Remus had to admit, days without Rebecca became rather boring. She was the sort of person that, once you had her in your life, you wouldn't want her to be out. She had to constantly be there. Remus straightened out the ball of paper, and he recognized the hand writing. It was Rebecca's. There were only two words written on it.

_I'm sorry.

* * *

_

James, Peter and Sirius were going down the staircases when Sirius suddenly said, "Hey, wait up. I just saw someone." He smirked.

Peter and James looked at him quizzically. "Who?" Peter asked with no clue.

James then had the same smirk on his face. "Rebecca, isn't it?" Sirius nodded and James added, "Go get 'em, Tiger."

Sirius ran back up the staircase and caught up with Rebecca Johnson. "Hey, Johnson."

Rebecca didn't even look at him. "Hey, Black," she greeted him back.

"How'd you know it was me?" They walked together.

Rebecca laughed, "How can I not know it's you? It's so obvious. When you talk, there's always this smug tone to it."

"Right," Sirius smiled.

"See?" Rebecca pointed out. "Just like that."

"So, uh. I was wondering…" Sirius pondered, "Maybe you'd like to have lunch with me?"

"When?"

"Uhm, now," Sirius chuckled.

Two girls from Ravenclaw passed by Sirius and Rebecca. One was a blonde like Rebecca, and the other one looked rather gothic. The gothic girl shot Rebecca a dark look while the blonde one took one glance at Sirius and then immediately looked like she was going to be tearing up in the next five seconds.

This made Rebecca curious. "Do you know those two Ravenclaws?" She asked, and put aside Sirius' previous question.

"…No," Sirius replied reluctantly.

"How'd you know them?"

"I don't."

"You three are friends? Or were more than friends?"

Sirius shook his head and chuckled with disbelief, "You're not hearing anything I say, are you?"

"The truth is all I hear when you lie," Rebecca winked.

"Witty," Sirius commented, "Very witty. I get why guys like you."

"Not all boys," she smiled. Then there was an awkward moment of silence. Well, awkward for Sirius, at least.

After what happened to Rebecca and Sirius in the greenhouse, it was like everything was back to normal. They were friends, but they weren't a couple. It was as if nothing had ever happened between them at all. Of course, they both knew they had a thing for each other, but Sirius was a player… and so was Rebecca. But then, Sirius had no knowledge of that.

And then, he decided to break the silence. "So," he said confidently, "Lunch?"

Rebecca stopped and turned to face him. She smiled a sickly, sweet smile. "I'm sorry, but someone's already asked me."

Sirius just stood there in disbelief. He was never turned down—till now.

Rebecca continued, "First come, first serve, Sirius. I'm sure you of all people will understand what I mean. Ask me next time, and then maybe you'll get lucky." She gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder and left. Sirius stood there scoffing.

* * *

"I can't believe she blew me off! 'First come, first serve' and 'Maybe next time, you'll get lucky,'" Sirius mocked moodily when he was with the Marauders in the Great Hall for lunch. "I mean, come on! If she was any other girl, she would've said yes."

"Which then concludes to the fact that Rebecca Johnson isn't your every day ordinary girl," James pointed out. "She isn't just 'any other girl' like you just said, Padfoot."

"Wow," Sirius laughed, "You're saying that about Rebecca Johnson? You barely know her!"

"You know what," Peter thought, "You could always try and make her jealous." The Marauders all looked at him. "Maybe—just maybe—it'll work. Eh, I wouldn't know."

James brightened up. "Wormtail's right! I mean, that's what I did to Lily back in third year, you know."

"Which then concludes to the fact that you and Lily still haven't gone anywhere," Sirius stuck his tongue out and James scowled.

"Eh, I don't think that's a good idea, guys," said Remus. "I mean, if someone tried to make me jealous, it would just result in me resisting even more."

Peter nodded, "He's got a point," but Sirius didn't seem to hear them.

"I don't think you should do that to her. Try other alternatives. Friendlier options, you know? You should be gentle if you want to win your way to a girl's heart."

"Well said, Moony," James looked smug.

"She's actually pretty nice."

"Rebecca?" asked Sirius. "She was such a tease earlier."

Remus chuckled. "I can imagine. Maybe that's just her way of saying she likes you? Anyway, she threw me a note earlier in History of Magic."

"Was she the one who kept on saying 'psst' to you?" asked Peter.

Remus shrugged, "Maybe. So, I read the note and it said 'I'm Sorry.'"

"How are you sure it came from her?"

"I recognized her handwriting. She's my Herbology partner, remember?"

Just then, Remus suddenly inhaled a familiar perfume scent. He looked at who just passed by and he saw a small girl with long, blonde hair. Remus grabbed his books and said, "I'll meet you guys in the library for free period, okay?" And then he left. He followed Rebecca and she seemed to know he was tailing her. Just as she left the Great Hall, she swiftly stole a glance at Remus.

Remus opened the door of the Great Hall and stepped out. Rebecca was right there in front of him. She smiled weakly. "Did you get my note?" she asked.

Remus nodded.

"I know I've written it down, but I'll say it again anyway," Rebecca rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry, Remus. I shouldn't have gone all high strung on you like that. You're right, if you hadn't been there to help me…"

Remus chuckled. "I know, I know. You're sorry and you're forgiven. I can't stay mad at a person for so long, anyway."

"Thank you," Rebecca was more at ease now, "for not telling anybody. You didn't, right?"

"No," Remus shook his head, "It's not my secret to tell. And that piece of information is safe with me. Did you get the stones back?"

"Yeah," Rebecca replied slowly, "Severus gave them to me. He didn't say anything, but I'm sure he's not clueless. I bet he knows. He's a genius. I'm sorry for leaving the stones on the floor in front of you, by the way. That was immature."

"It's all fine, Rebecca," Remus grinned at her. To his surprise, she moved forward and pulled him in a hug.

"I like you, Remus, you're so easy to talk to," Rebecca stated simply. Remus chuckled nervously. "Thanks," he replied.

"You and Severus are the two friends whom I feel most comfortable with."

When they pulled away, Rebecca didn't immediately let go of Remus. Her one arm still stayed on his waist and Remus put his arm around her shoulders because he felt it was awkward and disrespectful not to do so. Then they started walking.

"I should warn you, by the way," Remus huffed.

"About what?"

"Uhm… let's just say that you shouldn't let your emotions get the best of you. You know, if ever you see something you don't particularly like…"

Rebecca laughed, "I'll take care."

* * *

**i probably don't deserve it for keeping you guys hanging, but REVIEWS? :D I won't update till the reviews reach 93. That's only 4 reviews, people! =)) HAHA. and besides, i already have more than half of chapter 22 up. ;) heehee.**

**btw, i'm planning on changing the title of this story. You Can Let Go Now is the title because it's actually supposed to end sadly, but then, i'm having second thoughts. what do you guys think?  
**


	23. Hello, Goodbye

**don't worry guys. HAHA. remus and rebecca are only friends. ;)**

* * *

22. HELLO, GOODBYE

"_I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello."_

_- Hello Goodbye by The Beatles_

During free period, the Marauders were all seated in a corner of the library, trying to avoid the prying eyes of other students around and the blushing fan girls. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter were creating something they thought would be their greatest idea yet. It was a map.

"So, it's only Hogwarts and its secret passages, right?" James clarified and all the other three Marauders confirmed.

"And when we're gone from this school, we'll leave it hidden in a place in the common room, so that future mischievous Gryffindors like ourselves will get the opportunity to discover it, and then actually have the chance to live up to our name," Sirius smirked.

"If they can cope up and bear with it," Peter chuckled.

"But those who'll find it should be worthy," Remus thought. "I mean, we can't just have a map like this for everyone to see!"

"We should disguise it," said James.

Peter frowned, "Into what?"

Sirius suddenly had a twinkle in his eyes, "Into a battered old parchment. A blank one. And there's a certain incantation that will make the map reveal itself. Of course, people aside from ourselves won't know what it is."

"And _that's _how the map will find out if the ones holding it are worthy enough to see the genius it beholds!" Remus laughed, "I never thought I'd say it, but that was pure brilliance, Sirius!"

Sirius waved to an imaginary cheering crowd, "Thank you, thank you."

"So, what'll the incantation be?" asked James, "Will me make a new spell? Or it'll just be a bunch of words?"

"It's cooler and easier if it was a bunch of words," answered Peter.

"We'll need two incantations," Sirius prodded, "One that'll make the map appear, and another than that'll make it hide itself."

"I have an idea!" Remus slammed his hand on the table. "It won't be _just _a map of Hogwarts. It'll be a map of Hogwarts where you can see the people—as in where they are, where they're going."

"That'll be a bit challenging, but it sounds like it's worth it," James muttered.

"You can track down everyone in the school campus. Even people who are using disillusionment charms, Polyjuice Potion, Animagi powers, invisibility charms _and _invisibility cloaks," Remus shot a look at James.

"So, in short, the map never lies," Sirius muttered and then he beamed, "I like it, I like it. It's genius."

"So, the incantation?" asked James.

Peter replied, "Well, I have an idea. But just one, and it's for the incantation that hides the map." All his friends stared at him and urged him to continue. "Mischief managed. I mean, it sounds pretty cool. I don't know what you guys think, but if you don't like it, we can change it."

"What are you talking about?" James shook his head, "It bloody brilliant! Mischief managed."

"We are so up to no good here," Remus commented and laughed. "We're spending our precious time with our shenanigans and hullabaloos."

"Hey, maybe than can be the other incantation," Sirius pointed out.

Remus frowned. "What? 'We're spending our precious time with our shenanigans and hullabaloos'? It sounds a bit stupid, Padfoot."

"Not that, idiot. The previous thing you said. 'Up to no good'."

James adjusted his glasses. "Don't you think that's a bit short?"

Sirius thought for a while. "How about, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good', then?"

James, Remus and Peter all nodded. "That's it then," Peter smiled, "We've got our map. The Marauders' Map."

"And then, at the front it should say, 'Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers, proudly present The Marauders' Map'," James imagined.

"I hate to cut the fun short, but Herbology will be starting in a while, so we'll have to leave."

"What?" complained James, "But some students are still here."

"These are Slytherins, our Herbology period is their free period."

"Who're we having Herbology with, then?"

"Hufflepuff," Remus replied, "Seriously, do you even check your schedules?"

James, Sirius and Peter gathered their things and were about to leave. "Uhm, Moony?" Sirius frowned. "Aren't you coming with us?"

"I would," Remus gritted his teeth, "But my ass is stuck to this chair."

The three Marauders controlled their laughter. "What?" James said.

"Darn it, which of you three did this? It's not funny!" Remus tried to get off the chair.

Suddenly, a group of Slytherins ran past the Marauders and started soaking Remus in maple syrup. Regulus came with a bucket of feathers and threw it all over him. Regulus taunted, "I saw you and Johnson hugging out there earlier." Remus threw him a dirty look.

"Reg!" Sirius called out, "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Out of the blue, there was a flash of bright, blue light and the Slytherins stood there, frozen. "Petrificus Totalus!" a girl's voice was heard. It was Lily.

"You, you, you and you," Lily pointed to the frozen Slytherins, "Five points from Slytherin! Each!" And then she faced James, "And you! Why didn't you do anything about this?"

James stuttered. Lily rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "You're head boy, James!"

"Uhm, is Remus going to be fine?" Peter asked sheepishly to ease the tension.

Lily faced him. "Yes," then she waved her wand and Remus was able to stand up away from the chair, "but the syrup and the feathers won't be easy to take off. They've been charmed. You better get to the hospital wing," Lily was about to pat Remus' shoulder, but then had second thoughts.

James chuckled nervously when Lily looked back at him, "I'm sorry! I forgot I'm head boy!"

Lily suppressed a smile, "You forgot?" James nodded and then there was silence. "Tomorrow, five o'clock, okay?" she reminded him. "Don't be late." And then Lily turned to leave. "You boys better hurry up, Herbology will start in a few."

"I'll be on time!" James called after her. Sirius sniggered, "Nice. Real slick, Prongs."

"Ugh," Remus complained, "Let's just go to the hospital wing. This is all so sticky."

The Marauders were walking through the hallways in a hurry. Students were scurrying fast to their respective classrooms, and from time to time, people would shoot Remus an incredulous look that seemed to ask, "What in the world happened to him?"

When the Marauders reached the hospital wing, they saw Madam Pomfrey talking to Rebecca. They, however, didn't notice the Marauders. Madam Pomfrey handed Rebecca a glass of water and something else, and then she finally noticed the four boys. "It's you four again," she said and then she eyed Remus, "A nasty prank with a sticking charm to it?"

Remus nodded. "Well, this is going to take a while," Madam Pomfrey frowned. "It's a pretty strong charm those pranksters of yours put up."

Remus turned to face his friends, "Maybe you guys should leave me for now, or you'll be late for Herbology." The Marauders nodded and were about to leave but then they were distracted by Rebecca making a choking sound.

Rebecca saw them staring at her and she joked, "What? AZT break." Peter, James and Sirius looked stunned, and Rebecca quickly recovered. "I'm kidding!" she said. Then she looked at Remus, "Ugh, God. What in the world happened to you?"

Remus looked sheepish. "Regulus and a few others. Prank."

"Why, though?"

Remus lowered his voice, "He said that he saw us hugging. I'm guessing he got the wrong message."

Rebecca rolled her eyes and shook her head. "That tool. I'm going to have a word with him. See you around," and then she left.

"Is it true?" asked Sirius, "You and Rebecca?"

"Yeah, but don't go getting the wrong message, Padfoot mate," Remus warned, "Don't forget that Rebecca was the one who threw me the 'I'm sorry' note earlier, remember? We were just making up with each other."

"Why'd she apologize?" Peter inquired, curious.

"Oh, you know," Remus tried to avoid answering, "Stuff. We got into a misunderstanding, is all. Come on, you guys better go. Herbology!"

"Oh, yeah," James chuckled, "See you, Rem."

"See you," Peter and Sirius chorused and Remus nodded to them.

* * *

In the greenhouse, Sirius was a bit quiet. "Hey, mate. What's the matter?" asked James. Sirius chuckled humorlessly, "Remember this greenhouse?" James frowned, "Not really."

"This is the greenhouse where Rebecca and I… you know. _Talked._"

"Talked. Wow," James laughed, "Oh, yeah. I remember now. But I bet you guys did more than talk," he elbowed Sirius.

"D'you think there's something going on between them, though?"

"Who?" James asked as a Venomous Tentacula snapped at his fingers.

"You know," Sirius explained slowly, "Remus and Rebecca."

James scoffed. "There is absolutely nothing going on between them. You know Remus well, Padfoot! He wouldn't do that. Rebecca's not his type."

Sirius looked more at ease after James said that. "So," James continued, "You still up for making her jealous?"

Sirius thought for a while as he reached for an empty pot. Unexpectedly, someone else reached for the pot at the same time. It was a Hufflepuff girl. Sirius looked at her and she smiled and batted her eyelashes at him. "Sorry," she told him, "You can have that."

"Uhm, thanks," Sirius said.

"Padfoot," James nudged, "Answer my question!"

"What? Oh," Sirius said, not taking his eyes off the Hufflepuff girl. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm up for it. Let's play the jealousy game, then." He smirked.

James looked at Sirius. "You have an idea, don't you? It's dripping in your voice." There was no response. "Sirius?"

Sirius didn't seem to hear James. "So," Sirius said to the Hufflepuff girl, "hi. I'm Sirius."

* * *

**reviews? i won't be updating till reviews reach 100. :) so that it can buy me more time as well. :D thanks, guys! btw, i'm thinking about making a sort of "video" for YCLGN. can you guys help me out? which actors do you think would be good for the story's characters? :) and, btw. I'm going to be changing the title of this story soon. any ideas?  
**


	24. Can't Be Tamed

**never thought i'd use this miley cyrus song as inspiration in any of my fanfics, but it actually came in handy! LOL**

**hope you guys enjoy this chappie  
**

* * *

23. CAN'T BE TAMED

"_For those who don't know me, I can get a bit crazy. Have to get my way, yep, twenty four hours a day 'cause I'm hot like that."_

_- Can't Be Tamed by Miley Cyrus_

It was the Slytherins' free period. Rebecca, Regulus, Zed Foss (Slytherin's Quidditch captain) and some other Quidditch players from the Slytherin team were cooling of by the Black Lake. Rebecca, Regulus and Zed were all lying flat on their backs on the soft, green grass. Rebecca was in between Regulus and Zed.

"I heard what you did to Lupin, Reg," Rebecca said in a simple, casual tone.

"He deserved it. Why were you two feeling each other up anyway?"

Zed looked when Rebecca replied, "We weren't. It was a hug, not a crime. There was nothing to it."

Regulus yawned and stretched. "If you say so."

"But really, Reg?" Rebecca laughed. "Syrup and feathers? Out of all the pranks you could've done, you did _that?_ That's so lame already. Well, not that I approve of the fact that it was Lupin you pranked—"

"Oh, really?" Regulus raised an eyebrow. "What prank would you choose then?"

"I don't _prank _people, Regulus. I bash and diss on them. Nothing physical. And if I did do pranks, I sure wouldn't have done anything to Lupin."

Regulus scoffed, "Nothing physical… Nothing _too _physical, you mean."

Rebecca chuckled darkly and shook her head unconsciously. "You know how I feel about blood traitors, Becca," Regulus muttered. "It's best if you stay away from them."

"And it's best if _you_ don't go about trying to control my life," Rebecca snapped back, "if you know what's best for you. For those who don't know me well enough, I can get kind of crazy, you know."

Zed chuckled at his. "Girls like you…" he said, "always getting your way all the time."

"It's called women empowerment, Zed," Rebecca sighed.

"By the way," Zed continued, "You haven't finished telling me that life story of yours. Like what happened during the Quidditch World Cup..."

Rebecca frowned at this, "What's got you so interested in it that you want to know everything?"

"I'm interested in _you_," Zed smirked, "Does that answer your question?"

Rebecca sat up and ran a hand through her hair to remove a bit of grass. "Vaguely," she replied.

"What do you want me to do to get you to come to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?" Zed sat up as well.

"Stay patient," Rebecca smiled, looked at Zed, and cocked her head to one side, "and behave. There are so many others in line who are less trashier and much more classier than you who prove to be, Zed."

"Behaving is difficult with you," Zed muttered, inching closer to her neck. Rebecca rolled her eyes, smirked, and gently pushed him away.

"_Behaving_," she said, "is what you need. You see what I mean?"

Then, noise not so far away was heard. Rebecca, Regulus and Zed all looked behind them. It was the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs. They had just come from the greenhouses, their Herbology lesson was over.

"Well," said Zed, "looks like our day is done. No more lessons till Monday." Then he stretched his arms and lied back down on the grass again. "Quidditch practice on Sunday, don't forget," Zed told Regulus and Rebecca.

They heard a girlish, high-pitched giggle, followed by a familiar husky, haughty voice. This caught Rebecca's attention and she sharply looked back to the Greenhouses.

"You've got to be kidding me," Rebecca muttered incredulously, under her breath.

Both Regulus and Zed looked towards the Greenhouses as well, and there was a clear view of Sirius, with his arms draped comfortably over a girl's shoulders.

"Who the heck is she?" Rebecca asked. "So fast, that Sirius Black. A serial dater, I might add."

Regulus chuckled humorlessly. "His taste is getting worse and worse." Rebecca shot Regulus a look. "I mean to say," Regulus recovered, "that girl he's with is from Hufflepuff."

"Ugh," Rebecca shuddered and agreed. "You're right, Reg. It is getting worse."

"Oh, Sirius. You're so funny!" The Hufflepuff girl could be heard giggling again. Sirius had that winning smile plastered to his face, as he smirked at James and Peter who were lagging behind, a bit embarrassed.

Rebecca snorted with laughter, "Okay, he has _officially _lost it!"

"You can say that again," Zed muttered. "Though I think the girl's going crazier than he is."

"Look at Potter and Pettigrew," Regulus mocked. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually feel sorry for them! They're the ones putting up with my dear old brother's tomfoolery and monkeyshines."

"Wow, deep words," Rebecca chuckled. "Tomfoolery and monkeyshines, huh?"

"Hmmph. No wonder my parents disowned him and kicked him out. We even have this big painting of our family tree on one of our walls," Regulus looked at Rebecca. "It shows generations of Blacks, but Mum was so smart enough to blast Sirius' arrogant, horrid face off the family tree."

"Really," Rebecca said absentmindedly, still eyeing Sirius and the new girl. "That's interesting."

"Oy, you!" Regulus, Rebecca and Zed heard from one side of the lake. It was Bellatrix, with Severus. The three stood up and walked towards them. "Hi, Bells," Becca greeted, "Hi, Sev."

"Hi." Severus replied, "We thought we'd find you three here. This is the usual hangout for Slytherin Quidditch players."

"Right, you are," Zed answered.

Loud, boisterous laughter was heard from Sirius and the Hufflepuff girl again. Regulus, Rebecca and Zed all reacted. "Seriously, who is that girl?" Rebecca asked. "My eardrums are going to bleed because of her."

"The one Sirius is with?" Bellatrix looked. "Oh, she's a nobody. Idina Williams. Sirius is losing his taste in girls."

"You can say that again," Regulus yawned.

"Oh, Sirius! That's so sweet of you!" said Idina Williams.

Rebecca grimaced inwardly. "You know what, Zed?" Zed looked at her. Rebecca continued, "Meet me tomorrow at the entrance hall at five. We're going to Hogsmeade."

Zed laughed, "That's what I'm talking about," and he put his arm around Rebecca casually.

"Ode to joy," Regulus muttered darkly.

Surprisingly, Sirius accidentally bumped into Rebecca's shoulder. He was with Idina. James and Peter were still lagging behind.

"Not _now_, Sirius," Peter whispered, eyeing the other Slytherins Rebecca was with.

"Oh. Hello, Rebecca," Sirius said louder than usual. It was as if he didn't hear Peter's previous remark. "I didn't see you there."

Rebecca raised a pair of sarcastic eyebrows. "Unbelievable."

"I have a new girlfriend," Sirius said, glancing at Idina.

"Really?" Rebecca grinned, "Whose?"

Sirius' smile immediately disappeared. And then, Rebecca looked at Idina. "Oh, you must be her, you _unlucky _girl. Sirius has got a small package, so don't expect much." And then Rebecca winked. The Slytherins roared with laughter. Even James and Peter sniggered a little.

Sirius looked as if he wanted to pull Rebecca's hair out. "Are you going to Hogsmeade tomorrow?" Rebecca asked Idina sweetly.

Idina opened her mouth to answer, but then Rebecca suddenly said, "That's great. Where are you off to?"

"Well, Madam Puddifoot's is the first place—"

"Awesome! It's a double date, then."

Sirius retorted. "Wait, _what?_"

"Your timing couldn't have been better, Sirius," Rebecca explained. "Zed and I are going out, too. Anyway, it's getting late, and my friends and I should be off now."

Rebecca gave him a teasing kiss on the cheek before saying, "See you tomorrow." And they left.

When the Slytherins were gone, Sirius shook his head, "Unbelievable."

"Idina! Idina!" A few girls called out. Idina looked towards the hallways and she saw her friends. "Uhm, Sirius," she said, "I'll go now. I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah, five o'clock," Sirius answered automatically.

Idina waved goodbye to James and Peter, kissed Sirius on the cheek and then ran to her friends.

Sirius sighed, "Wow."

"Underestimated Rebecca, did you?" James asked. "She's a nasty piece of work."

"Tell me about it," Sirius added.

"Well, it only gets like that if you provoke her," Peter explained.

"Maybe she knows…?" James trailed off.

"Maybe," Sirius answered. "If not, she'll know soon. But still, I'm not giving up. Anyway, I'm actually looking forward to the double date tomorrow."

"I think Rebecca scared Idina," James laughed. "But Rebecca and _Zed? _Rebecca's a nasty piece of work, like I said, but Zed? Wow. He and her put together will cause some sort of violent chemical reaction, I bet."

"Murder me, Peter," Sirius groaned.

Peter chuckled. "Eh, lighten up, Padfoot. Come on, let's go to the Hospital wing. Remus must be out by now."

"Wait till he hears about this," remarked James.

Sirius groaned again, "Murder me."

* * *

**ooh, i smell trouble. :)) HAHA. so, dugs. how'd you like it? ;) i won't be updating till reviews reach 107. :)**


	25. Challenges and Games

**hello, all! i'm sorry for the short chapter, but enjoy!**

* * *

24. CHALLENGES AND GAMES

_"Why can't you see, you belong with me?"_

_- You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift_

"Where are they?" asked James, impatient. Lily sighed. "Just wait for them. They'll be here in a minute."

James pushed his glasses up to his eyes. "You don't think they've bailed, do you?" Lily looked at James. "No," James answered his own question. "No, it's impossible. Sirius would never bail out of a challenge like that."

Lily snorted. "A challenge?"

"Oi, you two!" came Sirius' boisterous voice from the staircase. He was about to open his mouth to say something else, but he was cut off by another. "Oh, _hello there,_ Sirius!" Rebecca taunted, holding Zed's hand.

Sirius' head snapped at Rebecca and he immediately grabbed Idina's hand as well. "_Hello,_" he grinned.

"I see you've brought _her_ along."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "I see you've brought _him_ along."

"I'm sorry," Rebecca addressed the girl, "What did you say your name was?"

Idina opened her mouth to answer but Rebecca said, "Oh, that's right. You didn't."

"Her name is Idina, _Becca,_" Sirius said irritably.

"Don't you 'Becca' me, _Sirius Black_."

"Ugh," Lily complained loudly, "Let's go!"

* * *

The three couples were all in Madam Pudifoot's with their ordered drinks. Lily was in between James and Rebecca. Next to James was Sirius, next to Sirius was Idina, who was next to Zed, who was next to Rebecca. Zed inched a little further a way from Idina. Rebecca and Sirius were seated directly in front of each other. It was a rather awkward group of people who sat on this particular round table. Some students from Hogwarts who happened to either pass by the shop, or were in the shop, gawked at the three couples. There was a lot of awkward silence.

"Soooo," James tried to stir up conversation. "Tell me more about yourself, Idina," he said kindly.

Idina seemed to perk up. She smiled at James. "Well, I was born in Scotland. My mum's a Healer and my dad works for the ministry."

"You're rather good at Potions, I hear," Lily commented.

"Yes," Idina nodded, "but there can only be one Slughorn favourite, and that's you." She smiled at Lily then she turned to Rebecca. "I'm sorry, but I think we got off the wrong foot. My name's Idina."

"So I've heard," Rebecca yawned.

There was a pause. "I heard you were from Beauxbatons."

"Well, you heard right."

"Then are you French? Beauxbatons students are usually French."

The boys seemed eager to hear Rebecca's answer. She noticed. "Yes," she smiled sweetly. "I'm half French. And I'm half English."

Sirius snorted and Rebecca's smile dropped. "You don't sound English or French at all."

"I didn't grow up in England or France, if you must know."

Zed had this knowing little look in his eyes. "Father side?" he whispered. Rebecca turned her head to him. "English," he whispered back. "Ah," Zed nodded.

"Oh, then where _did_ you grow up, Rebecca?" Sirius clasped his hands and asked innocently. "In a forest raised by wolves? Do, pray tell!"

Rebecca's eyes narrowed at Sirius. "I do know that I grew up somewhere better than where _you_ did, Sirius."

"And where might that be? Please, inform me and make me knowledgeable, because the information I have of you is limited."

Rebecca leaned closer to him and said in a softer, yet more taunting voice. "Limited you are, but knowledgeable, you most certainly are not."

"You think so?" Sirius leaned in closer as well. "You're better bred than I am, then? I know for a fact that your family is in league with You-Know-Who—"

"_As yours is_."

"—but while mine are, I still have a clear mind not to fall for that _arrogant, dim-witted little monster of a trap_. Unlike the family that you have."

Rebecca stared down at Sirius. Suddenly she said, "At least I still _have_ my family. You, Sirius, would know what I mean. In fact, I seem to have a bit more of your own family than you do yourself."

Sirius looked like he'd been slapped in the face. "You—"

"Sirius." James called out in a warning tone. Sirius looked at James, who glared at him and he seemed to calm down by a tad bit.

"Excuse me for a while," Sirius announced too politely. "I need to get some air."

No one spoke, but Sirius walked out of the door. Once he was out, he took in a deep breath and shouted to his delight out of annoyance.

* * *

"_That,_" Sirius said through gritted teeth during dinner, "was—a—disaster."

James stabbed his food with his fork. "Lily will never go out with me again because of you."

"I'm sorry, Prongsie," Sirius grimaced. "I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll talk to Lily—"

"I told you so," Remus said, barely a whisper.

"Whuh?" James and Sirius asked together, in the same tone.

"I told you so," Remus said louder. "_I told you_ not to do that stupid jealously game. _I told you_ it'll end up in chaos. _I told you_ that—"

"You know, for the quiet one, your smartness gets pretty loud, Moony," said James.

"Now you know she can get nasty," Peter stated.

Sirius nodded to Peter, "I know that she can get nasty, Wormy. But now I know how nasty she can get. What do you think, Remus?"

"I absolutely trust her," Remus said in a concluding tone.

"Well, that's a bit of nonsense. I stand by what I said before," Sirius thumped his fist on the table. "She's a pain, honestly, she is."

Remus sipped his pumpkin juice. He replied pointedly, "I absolutely trust her."

* * *

Rebecca violently bit a slice of brownie as she glared at Sirius' back across the Great Hall. "I'm going to do something incredibly stupid and dangerous."

Bellatrix grunted, signalling that she was listening. Rebecca continued, "I'm going to date Reg again."

"Are you crazy?" Bellatrix almost shouted. "What about Zed? Aren't you dating him? You can't just dump him."

"We aren't dating. He and I both know that he and I like each other, and that we can go out with one another when we're bored and when we have nothing else to do and when we can't find any kind of entertainment for ourselves—"

Bellatrix snorted.

"—but Zed and I don't love each other."

Bellatrix suppressed a smirk and looked at Rebecca. "And you and Reg love each other?"

"What?" Rebecca frowned, "No. Don't be silly. He's going to be in on the plan with me."

"What plan?"

Rebecca smirked. "The incredibly stupid and dangerous plan."

"Enlighten me."

"Sirius wants to play the jealousy game? Alright then," Rebecca looked sinister, "Let's play."

* * *

**hello there. :) i found this chapter short. :| anyway, i'm in AUSSIE! :) so, i'm sorry if i sort of disappeared for a while. :)) HAHAH. reviews, lovelies! i promise to make the future chapters longer. anyway, i have a surprise for all of you. ;) but i'm not going to tell you what it is yet. alright. so, i'm not updating till reviews reach 112.**


	26. Where Are You Now

**hello, all! wow, i had to update right away since reviews reached 112 fast, huh! anyway, here's you latest chapter, and i've decided to move the story already. :) hope you guys enjoy it.**

**ALSO, PLEASE READ THE A/N LATER AT THE END OF THE CHAPPIE. IT'S IMPORTANT!  
**

* * *

25. WHERE ARE YOU NOW

_"I need you to need me, can't you see? How could you leave me? My heart is half empty. I'm not whole when you're not with me. I want you here with me to guide me, to hold me, to love me now."_

_- Where Are You Now by Justin Bieber_

"Lily, I'm sorry!"

Sirius chased Lily down the hallways. "Lily! Stop! I just want to talk to you!"

Lily probably decided to keep a safe distance away from Sirius. She thought being near him was potentially dangerous and deadly.

"Wait!" Sirius bellowed. He impatiently pulled out his wand and flicked it once. Lily was dragged closer to him as if she had a big elastic rope tied around her waist. Sirius caught her by the shoulders just in time and Lily's lips were pursed. "You," said Lily through gritted teeth, "are crazy, Sirius Black."

"I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday at Madam Puddifoot's. I know your date with James was completely ruined because of us—"

"Well, at least you admit it."

"And please, please don't not go out with James anymore just because of that!" Sirius looked at her with puppy dog eyes. Lily scoffed. "He really likes you, you know. Not on the shallow level that you always thought—"

"Shallow level?"

"—but on the deeper level that you were never able to notice!" Sirius said dramatically. "His arrogance and playfulness has blinded you from the sweet side that every girl wished every boy would have."

Lily raised her eyebrows, half amused, half sceptical. "Sirius. Don't overdo it."

Sirius let go of her shoulders and cringed like a little boy. He said in a very fast manner, "I know you're mad at me and you want to hit me, but please avoid the face."

Lily managed a laugh. "I'm not mad at you."

"Not the face!"

"And I'm not going to hit you, genius," Lily giggled.

Sirius relaxed. "You aren't?"

"No. And anyway, it's pretty obvious that you and Rebecca fancy each other."

"We do not! Lily, were you even paying any attention at all yesterday?"

"Oh, yes," she nodded knowingly. "Yes, I was paying very close attention, if you must know."

* * *

"What did she say?" James rushed to Sirius when he entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Sirius looked thoughtful.

"You'll be alright. She's not mad, mate."

"What's the matter with you? You look like you've been stunned."

Sirius grimaced. "You could put it that way, I guess."

"It was something Lily said, wasn't it?" Remus guessed. Sirius nodded, "She said Rebecca and I fancy each other." The Marauders snorted. "Honestly, what's she been paying attention to these days?"

"Well, it's unlikely that she's wrong," Remus pointed out.

"There's always a first for everything, Moony."

"Alright, alright, class!" The professor came in. "What've I got today, eh? Slytherins and Gryffindors? Excellent. For this lesson, I will call up a pair to come up here in front, just by the mirrored wall so that all of us can see you, and you—will—duel."

There were audible mutters and murmurs from the students, some of them excited, some of them quite nervous. The professor started out with a few pairs and they duelled as fair as they could. The Marauders were all looking forward to duelling, except Peter.

"This is going to do my health no good," Peter whispered.

"Relax, Wormy!" James nudged, "It's only a class."

The professor looked at the class to pick out another pair. "Right then," he called out, "Mr. Lupin and Ms. Johnson!"

Remus did not hesitate to step up forward. He drew out his wand and Rebecca did the same. He smiled at her, but her face remained blank. Her expression, unreadable. They held their wands tight, and Remus caught a glimpse of Rebecca glancing quickly at the mirrored wall. The bowed to each other, then kept their distance. Remus started out with a light spell. "Expelliarmus!" he disarmed her. Rebecca's wand flew out of her hand easily and she seemed to shrink. She didn't move but she kept on glancing at the mirror.

"Pick up your wand, Ms. Johnson," the professor said.

Rebecca did as she was told but her face was protesting. Remus was about to cast another spell, but Rebecca shouted, "Protego!" Her spell bounced off the mirror and sent Remus down on his knees. Remus stood up and waved his wand, but before he could cast the spell, Rebecca dropped her wand on the floor and shouted, "I'm not doing this!"

There was silence. Rebecca eyed the mirror again, "I… I can't," she looked at the professor guiltily, "I'm sorry, Sir. I can't do this."

The professor looked taken aback, but it was as if he understood. Rebecca was one of the best students in Defense Against The Dark Arts. She walked out of the class and the door slammed with a menacing echo to it.

* * *

Rebecca was seated on the windowsill of the Astronomy tower. It was incredibly dangerous. If she made a wrong move, she could fall off. And she had no wand to save her. She was so deep into her thoughts that she didn't even notice that Remus was standing by the doorway.

"You left your wand," he said softly, so as not to surprise her.

Rebecca didn't move, but she heard him. Remus came closer and handed her her wand. "I kept it for you." There was still no response. Remus sat in front of her. "Do you want to talk?"

Rebecca looked straight at him. "You're a really good person, Remus."

There was silence. Rebecca added, "Obviously a better person than I'll ever be."

Remus didn't know what to say. "You know that's not true," he replied sheepishly.

"You don't know me, Remus. Not well enough. You don't know what's happened to me. It would be best if you just… stayed away."

"I can't do that," came Remus' choked answer.

"Why not?"

"You're… you're—"

Rebecca scoffed lightly. "I'm important to you? I mean something to you? Life would be dull without me? It's unfair to just stay away?"

Remus looked at her, confused. He nodded once. "You're my friend, Becca."

"Yes," Rebecca said, "that's what happens to everyone."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Remus," she sighed, "I tend to hurt the people closest to me. And I have to admit, you mean a great deal to me. It would be unfair if you got hurt because of me. And it would be even worse if I was the one who hurt you."

"You would never... Becca, I don't understand."

Rebecca looked furious at herself. "God, Remus. I want to tell you, but I can't."

"You can't, or you don't want to?"

Rebecca chuckled darkly. "I don't want to. But I want to at the same time. Do you get that?"

Rebecca got her wand and went towards the door. Before she left, she turned back at Remus and she said, "Do me a favor, will you?"

Remus nodded.

"I want you to ask Severus why I'm here."

Remus frowned, confused. "Why Severus?"

"Because... he'll be the one who can tell you the truth without twisting anything. You know us Slytherins," Rebecca smiled sadly.

"Why can't you just tell me?"

Rebecca admitted, "I'm not brave enough."

"But you're so... You're so tough," Remus said weirdly.

Rebecca managed to laugh. "You'd be surprised what other personalities I can act out, Rem. You'd be surprised."

There was silence, and they just stayed there, staring at each other. Rebecca said once more, "Ask Severus."

"Why you're...?"

"Why I'm here. At Hogwarts." And she left.

* * *

**something's coming up. :) THE REVELATION? coming soon. ;) Alright. Here's the surprise for you all. The 120th reviewer will get to request a one shot from me. Here are the rules:**

**1. It can be anything from Harry Potter, Twilight or you can get a crossover of both.**

**2. You must NOT hold back just because you want to be 120th :)**

**3. You get to make up anything you want in the one shot, (e.g. the characters, plot, the title) but you can also leave some stuff for me to make up on my own. Alright? ;)**

**I'm not updating till reviews reach 117. :D  
**


	27. A Drop In The Ocean

**thanks for all the reviews, people! you're all amazing. :D alright. so the 120th reviewer is TTCyclone! TTCyclone, I've sent you a PM, so go check it out. ;) And thanks for reading this story!**

**This chapter is a bit more emotional than the others you've read in this story so far. So, i encourage you to read all of it, word per word, even if there are loads of descriptions.**

**Oh, and I love Remus in this. SO MUCH XD  
**

* * *

26. A DROP IN THE OCEAN

_"It's too late to cry, too broken to move on, and still I can't let you be. Most nights I hardly sleep, don't take what you don't need from me."_

_- A Drop In The Ocean by Ron Pope  
_

Remus and Severus stood there in front of each other, staring at one another. Remus' face was curious and a little bit confused, and Severus' expression was surprised and bemused at the same time. "What?" he asked.

Remus sighed. "You heard me."

Severus shook his head and looked around to check if no one was around. When he was sure that everything was safe, he said in a lower voice, "What you have to understand about that is—"

"Look, she really told me to ask you."

They stared at each other a little more, until finally, Severus gave in. "Fine. I believe you. You and Becca have become friends, then."

Remus nodded.

"Alright. Listen carefully, because I don't want to repeat it again," Severus pointed out, "Rebecca's story isn't a very pleasant one."

* * *

Sirius was all alone in the Quidditch pitch. He was seated in the bleachers and he had a photo album in his hand. He opened it, reminiscing old memories. The photo album wasn't his, though. It was sent to him today via Owl Post. But there was no note attached. It's probably from one of his family members, he thought. They sent me this just so that they could get rid of all the memories. The photo album belonged to Hera.

Sirius flipped the pages, and all pictures were organized very neatly in order. There were family pictures, Hera's baby pictures, and there were a lot of photographs of Sirius, Regulus and Hera as kids. Later on in the photo album, Regulus began to disappear from the photos, and so did the rest of the family. Until only Sirius and Hera were left. There were even a couple of photos of Hera with the Marauders.

Sirius violently slammed the book closed, and he shut his eyes tightly, refusing the tears to come through. No one could understand what he felt right now. No one was was as close to Hera as much as he was. Hera was his playmate as a child, his comfort when he was down, his refuge when he had nowhere to go. Hera Black was his cousin. And his beloved friend.

Sirius stood up to get back to the castle, but he felt something drop on the ground from the pages of the photo album. He looked back, and he saw a bunch of photographs on the grass. He tsk'ed to himself and sighed and picked them up.

But something suddenly caught his eye.

He looked at the pictures again. They were photos of Hera before she died. Sirius could tell because Hera had longer hair in these pictures, the hair she had a couple of months before she died.

But Hera wasn't alone in the pictures. And Sirius felt his breath hitch when he took a closer look to see who was the beautiful blonde girl with his cousin. They looked as though they were the best of friends in this picture. There were pictures of them laughing, pictures of them hugging, and pictures of them being wacky with the camera.

Sirius' mouth tightened and he felt his stomach dropped as he realized who was in these pictures with his cousin, who was now dead.

* * *

"You've got to tell no one," Severus warned.

"She… she did that?" Remus asked in a strained voice.

Severus answered hurriedly, "She didn't mean it." He gritted his teeth. "Don't make me regret telling you, Lupin. She trusts you. Why else would she tell you to ask me?"

"Sorry, I was just… I was just—"

"Shocked?" came a voice from a corner. Remus and Severus turned their heads and Rebecca was there. She had probably listened in on their conversation.

"I'll leave you two to it, then," Severus started to leave. He put a hand on Rebecca's shoulder and said, "See you in the common room."

"See you," she replied absent-mindedly.

Remus stared at her. Rebecca gently scoffed. "You hate me, right?"

Remus immediately walked towards her and shook his head violently. "No, no, no, no. I don't." He put both his hands on her shoulders. "I don't," he repeated. "Believe me."

Rebecca looked into his eyes, pleading. She had this expression on her face that Remus thought he would never see her do. She put her head on shoulder and silently sobbed.

Remus could imagine what she was feeling. He remembered what they had told each other before:

_"What if… what if you meet a person like… well, like what you said earlier," asked Remus._

_"What did I say earlier?" Rebecca looked at him._

_Remus quoted what she said. "'The school thought I was dangerous. That I could do more stuff like that whether I mean it or not'."_

_"You mean, if I meet someone like me?"_

_Remus nodded. "What would you do if you meet a person like that? And you become friends? Would you stay away from that person or would you keep your friendship?"_

_"I would keep it," Rebecca answered in a firm tone. "I'd keep it because I know how that person is feeling and we can share the pain together. One doesn't have to suffer alone. That's why we have friends—to give us comfort and to ease the hurt."_

Remus pulled her closer, and he could feel Rebecca shaking. She sobbed, but made no noise. He put his arms around her tightly and placed his chin on her head. "I'm still your friend," he whispered. "I'm still your friend."

* * *

Sirius walked back to the castle, holding the photo album in one hand, holding the bunch of photos of Hera and Rebecca in the other. He was clutching the photos of the two girls so tightly, he had crumpled a portion of it. He didn't know why he was so angry. There was just a feeling inside that made him feel that way.

When he turned at a corner, he saw Remus and Rebecca from afar. Her head was buried in Remus' arms, but Sirius could tell she was crying. He could see Remus' mouth moving as if he was talking to her, but he couldn't make out or hear what he was saying.

Remus spotted Sirius.

Their eyes met, and Sirius' expression was unfriendly. He was angry. But seeing Remus and Rebecca made him even angrier. And for what reasons, he couldn't exactly point out.

Remus and Sirius stared at each other.

Remus shook his head at Sirius and his eyes seemed to saying, "No. Don't, Sirius. Don't. Enough."

Sirius crumpled the photos of Hera and Rebecca deliberately easily in his hand, and he violently threw the photographs on the floor.

Just then, Rebecca lifted her head from Remus' arms and she immediately saw Sirius. Their gaze met for a moment, but he turned on his heel and left, his cloak billowing with the air.

Remus noticed that Rebecca's shoulders dropped. He looked behind him and was able to catch a glimpse of Sirius turning around a corner.

"Becca," he said, "Don't worry about it. You'll be fine. Everything will be alright."

And Rebecca, although protesting inside as to what Remus said, buried her face into Remus' arms again.

* * *

**here it comes, guys! alright. no updates till reviews reach 125. ;)**


	28. Lost

**this is where you guys learn the truth. :) reviews lovelies! no updates till reviews reach 133. :D**

* * *

27. LOST

_"Lost in this world, I even get lost in this song; and when the lights go down, that is where I'll be found."_

_- Lost by Anouk  
_

The next morning, Rebecca sat in the Slytherin table in the Great Hall with Severus, Regulus and Bellatrix. Everyone around her was having their usual fun, but she sat there like a statue, staring at her untouched food. She could feel the tension build up in her chest. She looked behind her at the Gryffindor table. The Marauders weren't there.

She sighed and bit her lip. Would she avoid him? Would she apologize? How would he react? Does he even know about everything?

All of Rebecca's questions immediately plummeted when she heard the doors of the Great Hall bursting open with a loud sound. Almost everyone looked to see who had made such an awful, ear blasting noise.

It was Sirius.

Rebecca sinked in her seat. Remus, Peter and James were a little bit behind him, muttering stuff and trying to hold Sirius back. He was holding a bunch of photos in his hand.

Rebecca knew what was coming. She stood up, braced herself, as Sirius furiously walked towards the Slytherin table. Towards her.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?" Sirius bellowed at her. "YOU LIED TO ME!"

The Slytherins shot Sirius dirty looks.

"Sirius, please, you don't understand—"

"DON'T YOU BLOODY TELL ME I DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

"It's not what you think!"

"HERA'S DEAD, REBECCA! SHE'S DEAD! YOU MURDERED HER!"

Rebecca spotted Lily on the Gryffindor table putting a hand to her mouth in utter shock.

"I didn't do it on purpose, Sirius! Please—"

"SHUT UP!" Sirius was furious. Even the Marauders couldn't do anything. "SHUT—UP! SHE WAS MY COUSIN, REBECCA!"

Rebecca quickly wiped tears that surprisingly sprung out from her eyes.

"YOU WERE HER FRIEND!" He threw the photographs he was holding at Rebecca's feet.

Everyone was looking. Rebecca's heart was pounding. The embarrassment was overwhelming.

"You killed her," Sirius gritted his teeth, his voice lower now. It was shaking. "I've had everything taken away from me, Rebecca."

Rebecca sobbed. "Sirius, please. Let me explain."

Sirius took a step forward and grabbed Rebecca's arms. He shouted in her face, "I HAVE NOTHING LEFT! THE ONLY FAMILY I HAD IS GONE AND IT'S ALL—YOUR—FAULT!"

"Sirius, let me go!"

Sirius continued to throw a fit of rage at Rebecca in the middle of the Great Hall, with everyone watching. He violently shook her and his grip on her arms was tightening.

"Sirius, stop it!" James yelled from behind, trying to pull his best friend away.

"STAY OUT OF IT, JAMES!" He elbowed James and it accidentally hit him in the mouth. James staggered backward, sucking is bleeding lip.

"STOP IT!" Rebecca shouted back at Sirius.

Remus stepped forward, "SIRIUS, LET HER GO! YOU'RE HURTING HER!" And then he punched him.

Sirius dropped to the floor, dizzy at the blow sent straight to his head. When he recovered, he glared up at Remus.

Severus stood up from the table and immediately took Rebecca by the hand and pulled her out of the Great Hall. He knew and understood what she must have been feeling at that time. The humiliation. The embarrassment of facing the painful and shameful truth.

"That's enough, Sirius," Remus glared back, "That's enough."

Sirius stood up. His hands were balled into fists. For a moment, Remus though he was going to be punched as well. "You don't know what it's like."

"You're wrong," Remus answered. "You had to blow up here. Now. You should've listened to her—"

"I don't want to hear it."

"—and the least you could've done was spare her this humiliation."

* * *

Outside the Great Hall, Rebecca slumped on a wall and fell to the floor. Severus stood there, his hands in his pockets. "You don't have to go back in there," he said. "Stay away from him, Becca."

"It's not that simple," Rebecca growled. "He deserves to know the truth."

"He won't even listen to you."

"He needs time!" Rebecca shot Severus a look.

"Why are you still defending him?" Severus sat beside her on the floor. He looked at her arms. Sirius' grasp had left bruises that were quickly forming on Rebecca's skin. Severus couldn't help but frown. "After what he's done…"

"He didn't mean it," Rebecca answered, "The bruises, I mean."

Severus sighed and leaned his head on the wall. "Why did you make me tell Lupin that story?"

"Because it's the truth! And he's my friend. And I can't bear living a lie anymore, not when my dead best friend's cousin is someone I see everyday."

Severus frowned more. "I didn't give Lupin the details," he said slowly, admittedly.

"What did you tell him?" Rebecca wiped her tears.

"That you didn't mean any of it. And it was an accident."

"You didn't tell him how it was an accident, did you?" Rebecca chuckled darkly.

"I don't know what happened that made it an accident."

There was silence. Rebecca hugged her knees. "It was last summer," she mumbled. "The Quidditch Tournament. There was a carnival after the match. Hera and I decided to go there."

There was silence as Rebecca tried to remember it all.

Then she spoke again, "We were in the carnival, in the hall of mirrors, when the Death Eater attack came. Hera looked at me, scared, and I swore to her I had no idea it would happen. I don't know if she believed me, though."

Rebecca chuckled darkly again, "Who could blame her? My parents are Death Eaters."

Severus mumbled hesitantly, "You don't have to tell me this."

Rebecca continued her story, not minding Severus' previous remark. "The lights went out in the hall of mirrors. We lighted our wands and we saw there were Death Eaters all around us. But we were confused, it was just their reflections we saw."

Rebecca pulled at her hair, looking deranged, trying to recount her dark summer.

"We didn't know it was their reflections. I don't know how the Death Eaters were doing it, they were trying to confuse us. The lights were out, we couldn't see clearly, we panicked, we were scared!" She looked at Severus, "The Death Eater I saw in front of me suddenly pointed his wand towards us, and I instantly cast a spell. I was—so—stupid. Of all the spells I cast, I did the Avada Kedavra."

Severus and Rebecca stared at each other. Her eyes started to fill up with tears again.

She shook her head as tears began to fall willingly, "The spell bounced off. It—fucking—bounced—off, Severus. We didn't know it was a mirror. We didn't know it was a reflection."

She sighed. "And the spell rebounded on Hera instead," Severus calmly finished the story for her.

"Yes," Rebecca confirmed in a strained, angry voice. "When she dropped dead beside me, I ran, and I accidentally dropped my wand along the way. That's how they found out it was me."

Rebecca scoffed, "Of course, my parents were proud, saying I had gotten rid off a very strong blood traitor. But they—they just didn't get it. They didn't even know Hera and I were friends."

Severus shook his head, "If you're planning to tell Sirius all of this, you're going to waste your time."

"It's worth a shot, Sev. It's worth a shot," said Rebecca. "Then I was expelled from Beauxbatons because of that. We tried to explain what really happened, but they wouldn't buy it. I needed to finish school. And so I was taken in Hogwarts, because only Dumbledore believed me. And he was so generous to keep the whole thing hushed up, so that I wouldn't draw attention and humiliation to myself."

"And then, there's the sickness thing," Rebecca stood up, "he even helped me with that. I didn't want the Hevelin stones at all, but he insisted I got them for my health, and who could say no to Dumbledore?"

"Someone stupid." Severus stood up as well.

"Exactly," Rebecca replied bitterly. "I thought that my sickness leading to my death was a good way to go."

"Shut up, Becca," Severus snapped. "Don't you dare say that."

"Or what?" she challenged. "I'm still going to die because of it. Even you can't deny that."

There was silence. Suddenly, Rebecca spotted something over Severus' shoulder. She peered over and saw there was somebody standing by the doorway. It was Remus, his face etched with shock.

Rebecca's stomach dropped. "Remus…"

"Don't tell me I heard what you just said," he protested.

"I'm sorry," Rebecca mumbled, shrinking again.

"Tell me it's not true."

There was a pause. Rebecca bit her lip, then said,"I'm sorry. Remus, I can't."

There was another awkward pause. Rebecca could feel the tears coming back. She shook her head violently, her hair getting in her face. "I need to be alone," she managed to say in a shaky voice before running back to the common room.

* * *

**OUCH. :| Anyway, TTCyclone. I'll be doing your one shot maybe around next week ('cause I'm going through a lot of flights soon, and next week is when I'll be settled in) and YES, i will be posting it on . That sound ayt? :D**


	29. An Unfortunate Event

**i just watched A Series Of Unfortunate Events, and it really struck me, what Klaus said. So, I used his words for inspiration. :)**

**Jade Lammourgy, thanks for your review! :) regarding your questions, YES the Avada Kedavra does destroy every solid object it hits- but that's exactly IT: it's part of the plot. ;) and as to why Remus was so shocked, he was shocked about the sickness. He knows Becca's sick, but he doesn't know she'd been neglecting her Hevelin Stones. So, she's not getting any better. Hope that helps! Anyway, you'll see everything in this chappie. ;)**

**enjoy, guys!  
**

* * *

28. AN UNFORTUNATE EVENT

"_These things don't just happen."_

_- Klaus Baudelaire, A Series Of Unfortunate Events_

Rebecca ran to the Slytherin common room, wanting to escape reality. Remus and Severus looked after her, but they didn't follow.

"What did she mean?" Remus asked.

Severus didn't turn his head. "She's… she's sick."

"I know that. But, I don't understand—"

"She hasn't been taking her medications properly," Severus admitted. "She doesn't want to."

"What?" Remus advanced, barely a whisper.

Severus turned to him. "Look. The Hevelin Stones. You know about them. But what you don't know is that she's been… she's been—"

"She's been neglecting them, hasn't she?" Remus bit his lip.

Severus nodded. "She thinks it the best way to go."

"She's wrong."

There was silence. So Rebecca did have her medications—but it was no use if she wouldn't even take them.

Severus shook his head, frowning. "I don't believe this."

Remus looked at him. Severus continued, "It's impossible."

"What is?"

"The story she just told us."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Oh, so you're saying she's lying now?"

"No, no!" Severus answered. "It's not that. She's not lying about anything… she just—doesn't know enough. I bet you anything that was the first time she actually used the Avada Kedavra."

"What do you mean?" Remus frowned.

"She doesn't know everything about that curse."

"Do you?" Remus asked. Severus didn't answer his question. He continued, "That curse doesn't get reflected on mirrors. If it hits anything solid, it'll just burst into flames."

There was silence. Suddenly, Remus and Severus looked straight at each other, realizing something. "Are you saying," Remus asked slowly, "that something made that curse rebound?"

"Or someone," Severus' eyes narrowed. "Rebecca said she could see the Death Eaters' reflections _because _they were in the hall of mirrors. But she also said that at first, she and Hera didn't realize it was reflections they were seeing."

"But," Severus looked away, "I still don't understand. How did the curse rebound?"

Silence.

Severus looked up. "These things don't just happen," he stated darkly. "Rebecca's blaming herself for something she didn't do. She didn't kill anybody."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Great Hall, Sirius sat on the floor, feeling Remus' punch. James walked up to him and gave him a helping hand. "You didn't have to blow up, Padfoot," James muttered.

"Didn't have to? I _wanted _to," Sirius muttered back. "She deserved it."

"You don't know that!" said James furiously. "Do you even _hear _yourself, Sirius?"

There was silence in the Great Hall, only to be broken by Bellatrix. "You're a great big jerk, you know that?" her voiced boomed in the Hall.

Sirius turned around to look at his cousin. "You might have mentioned it," he said coldly.

Bellatrix stood up and pulled Regulus along with her. Before they both left, Regulus told his brother, "You're thinking with your dick. Stop thinking with your dick."

And then they left. Peter walked up to Sirius and whispered, "He's… he's right, you know?"

Sirius pushed Peter away with one arm, "Shut up."

"It's a bit outrageous, Padfoot," James muttered in a lower voice, "You said yourself they were friends, right? I mean—"

Sirius scoffed.

"—it's like me killing you. Or you killing Remus. Or… well, you get the picture."

"We're different. She's a _Slytherin_. There's no witch or wizard that was in Slytherin that didn't end up in a bad state," Sirius explained.

"R-remember what Angus said?" Peter asked. "That day we were at the Quidditch Pitch. What she said about Rebecca?"

Neither Sirius nor James answered.

"You know?" Peter pressed on the topic. "He said that… that sometimes, we sort too soon."

* * *

Rebecca sat on her bed, and surprisingly, she was not sobbing uncontrollably like she had expected. She only stared into space, with a heavy feeling in her chest, pulling all the weight down. She could've passed for someone who had their soul sucked out by a Dementor. She hugged her knees and felt… empty. Hollow.

"Becca?" Bellatrix came bursting in the girls' dormitory. Regulus followed. "Don't listen to _him_," Bellatrix continued, "Sirius is a prick."

"I told you so," Regulus sighed.

"Not—helping—Reg," Rebecca said through gritted teeth. "If you're just here to gloat, then get out."

Regulus sighed again. "Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. But Bella's right—my brother's a prick. Ignore him."

"Ignore him?" Rebecca's shoulders dropped. "How in the world can I ignore him? After all that crap?"

"Look, I know you like him," Bellatrix gagged loudly, "but you have to let it go. Look at what happened! Look at _these_," she pointed at Rebecca's bruises.

"He didn't mean it."

Regulus groaned, "I don't get it why you like him."

"Who said I liked him?" Rebecca snapped at them. Bellatrix and Regulus stayed silent. "Exactly," Rebecca gloated, "No one said such a thing."

There was a pause.

And then—

"You're blaming yourself for something you didn't do," Regulus sat down on the bed.

"What do you mean?" Rebecca looked at him.

"The Avada Kedavra rebounding on the mirror—that's impossible."

"But," Rebecca wondered, "I saw it happen with my own eyes. I was the one who cast the spell."

"But you weren't the one who made it rebound."

Rebecca's eyebrows shot up, "What?"

"If a killing curse hits a solid object, it would just be set on fire. How sure are you that it was really a reflection you saw?"

Rebecca shook her head. "You guys don't know what you're talking about. If it isn't my fault, how come the Ministry declared my guilty? I was lucky they didn't put me in Azkaban. But in exchange, I was expelled from Beauxbatons, for God's sake."

"The Ministry isn't exactly always right," Bellatrix raised one eyebrow. "They've declared a lot of people guilty when in fact, they're actually innocent."

"Enough," Rebecca snapped again. "I've heard enough. Stop it already." Only then did she feel the delayed tears sting her eyes.

* * *

This time, Sirius, James and Peter retreated to the common room. Today was a gloomy day. The door behind them creaked open and they all saw Remus enter when they turned their heads. Remus grimaced as he saw blood clotting on Sirius' jaw.

"Sorry about that punch, Padfoot," Remus mumbled.

Sirius looked away. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

Remus took his place and sat on one of the couches as well. "Well?" James asked.

Remus looked up. "It's complicated," he shook his head. "I'm gonna tell you guys what happened. But not now," he glanced at Sirius.

"I've had enough drama today," Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Tell me, Padfoot," Remus spoke, "could you find it in yourself to actually listen to her side of the story?"

There was silence as the other Marauders anticipated Sirius' answer. "I guess," he sighed.

A little bit of tension was relieved. James chuckled darkly, "You're a horrible, vicious creature when you're angry, you know that?"

"Might've mentioned it."

"But then when you're not…" Peter trailed away quietly.

"When you're not, you're pretty rational," James slapped Sirius' back.

"Just give each other time," Remus said, "You and Rebecca need it both."

"_Don't_ say her name," Sirius warned calmly. Remus shrugged.

"Time," Remus repeated, "That's all you need. Take it easy, Sirius. Hera wouldn't have wanted you to be this way."

Sirius' shoulders sunk as he heard Hera's name. He thought of Rebecca and he felt guilty for hurting her, but angry at her at the same time—she knew Hera, and she knew that she was important to Sirius, but she didn't say anything. And as much as Sirius wanted to deny it, and he was glad no one knew it but him, Rebecca was important to him as well.

In one way or another.

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**hello all! hope you liked that. :) this story's really gonna get darker, now that the truth is out. please bear with me! no updates till reviews reach 138. :)**


	30. Regret

**hello, everyone! i'm back. :D hope you enjoy this chapter, and lemme tell you, the ending hit me like a ton of bricks XD**

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29. REGRET

"_The bittersweet taste of fate, we can't outrun the past; destined to find an answer, a strength I never lost. I know there is a way, my future is not set for the tide has turned. But still I never learned to live without regret."_

_- Regret by Anathema_

"Alright. Fine. You win. You're right," Rebecca walked briskly down the halls as Remus tailed her, "I have been neglecting the Hevelin Stones."

It's been three days since Sirius and Rebecca's last encounter, and the school was still buzzing about what happened. Rebecca hated the dirty looks everyone but the Slytherins gave her when she passed by them, but she kept silent.

"Why?" Remus demanded, trying to walk beside her. "Becca, we don't want to lose you—"

"We?" Rebecca laughed. "Define 'we'?"

Remus stayed silent. "Look, Remus," Rebecca continued, "It's best if we just… stay away from each other. It's safer that way. Regulus was right, we shouldn't have become friends. Look at what happened—"

"I know that Slytherins and Gryffindors don't get along well—we're like cats and dogs—but not all of us are like that. _You're_ not like that."

Rebecca finally came to a halt and turned around to face Remus. "How would you know what I'm like? What I'm _really_ like?"

"That day when… when Sirius confronted you," Remus flinched slightly, and so did Rebecca, "I saw a side of you. It's not true every time you say you don't care, because you do care. It's a lie every time you try to push someone away, because I know it hurts you. It's not true when you say you're alright, because you and I both know you're not."

Remus was staring right into Rebecca's eyes, but the intensity made Rebecca blush. She couldn't even look straight at him. Instead, she stared at the floor.

"There's this vulnerability in you," Remus finalized.

Rebecca snapped. "Are you saying I'm weak?"

"No. You're not weak. In fact, you're the exact opposite."

Then there was silence. When Rebecca didn't speak, Remus said, "So don't you even try to push me away, because I assure you, you'll be wasting your time."

Rebecca looked up at him and smiled softly. She stepped forward and gave him a hug, the sort of hug both she and him had gotten so used to with each other.

Rebecca calmed down a bit and told him, "Do you have any idea what it was like? That guilt that I had to live with? That unwilling grudge that I have for my parents, just because they're Death Eaters? I miss them. I miss Hera. And I miss my parents. Everything was so much easier when I was younger. Everything was so much less complicated before we got associated with You-Know-Who. And it sucks so badly, Remus. It does. Knowing that I was the last person Hera was with, and knowing that I was the last person to see her alive. And you know what makes it even worse? I didn't do anything about it. I ran, Remus. _I ran. _And I'm never going to be able to take that back."

* * *

"I feel terrible. I've _been_ terrible. I'm starting to hate myself for what I've done." Sirius had his forehead in his hands. He was at the library, with Peter, James and Lily. "I mean," he continued, "I was furious. I loved Hera—she was the only one I could call family… well, apart from you guys, and apart from Mr. and Mrs. Potter. But you know what I mean."

They all nodded. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody," Sirius shook his head. "But I'll still probably lose my mind when I see her. I don't want to hurt her again."

"So the problem isn't Rebecca anymore," Lily said firmly. "It's you."

James threw Lily a look. "What?" Lily demanded. "It's true. Isn't it, Sirius?"

Sirius didn't answer, but he looked at Lily. "You know," she said, "the only thing hindering you from forgiving is yourself."

"Forgiving? Lily, Rebecca killed my—"

"Have you ever listened to what she has to say?" Lily raised an eyebrow. Sirius shook his head, defeated. He leaned back on his chair and held his hands out. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Talk to her."

"But if I do," Sirius put his forehead back in his hands, "I want it to have a happy ending, I don't want to blow up again or something."

"You just have to learn to control yourself. Aside from that, you're kind of perfect," Lily chuckled.

Sirius groaned, "Yeah, rather you than me."

* * *

Rebecca and Remus were seated on a bench outside the castle, admiring the night sky. "I feel a little bit guilty that I kept you away from your friends," Rebecca grimaced.

"Don't be," Remus replied. "How many times do I have to explain to you your significance to me? You need me, admit it."

Rebecca laughed and rested her head on Remus shoulder. "Yeah. I admit it." There was a pause. "Sirius must be going through a lot, though."

Remus nodded once. "He just needs to sort out his emotions. But aside from that, he's good."

"He's kind of perfect, you know that?" Rebecca thought.

"How so?" Remus laughed.

"Well, it's obvious that he's gorgeous. He's really smart even though it's not obvious," Rebecca said and Remus laughed, "He's quite popular, very athletic, somewhat talented… and it's obvious he has a good heart and cares a lot about people."

"My, my," Remus raised his eyebrows, "could this be love?"

Rebecca slapped his arm and laughed. "I was just saying the truth."

All of a sudden, Remus cringed. His head began to throbbing, his hands began shaking and his pupils were dilating. He could feel the veins of his neck stand out and he became oblivious to everything else.

Rebecca sensed something was wrong. "Remus?" she asked nervously. "What's happening? Are you alright?"

Remus didn't answer, but he let out a deranged, strangled groan. Rebecca started to back away. "Remus?" she called out again.

His skin turned pale and he was obviously transforming into something.

Suddenly, the realization hit Rebecca like a ton of bricks.

Her hand shot up to her mouth and her eyes widened as she looked up at the sky and saw the full moon peering out of the clouds.

* * *

**i sense danger. :| this is NOT going to be good. :| uh oh.**

**anyway, reviews, everyone! thank you, btw, to MissKateBlack, Maria, Jade Lammourgy and CaraGrace for your reviews!**

**CaraGrace, her sickness is revealed in chapter 20. :D just a heads up! :)**

**alright. So... i won't be updating till reviews reach 143. :D  
**


	31. Apologies

**guys, i'm really sorry if this is late! and i'm sorry also if this is a super suck-ish chapter, which it is, because i have so much on my plate right now.**

**school already started, and i'm having trouble with un-dragging the plot. i don't like the way i wrote this chapter at all, so if you don't like it, you dont have to mention it, 'cause i don't like it much either. lol**

**BUT it shows in this chapter what happened with Remus and Rebecca, and Sirius and Rebecca get to start out the confrontation, but they don't exactly "talk" till the next chapter.**

**I'M REALLY SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE, AND THE SUCKISH CHAPTER! :( I know last chapter was a good cliffhanger, but let's just say this is a "prologue" to the confrontation.**

**maybe i think the whole chapter is awkward because it is? :)) i mean, even Rebecca and Sirius' conversation was really awkward.**

**DONT HATE ME! you know how school can be. :(  
**

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30. APOLOGIES

Rebecca ran—not into the castle, but out on the grounds. If she ran inside the halls, the werewolf would be within the school, but if she ran out on the grounds… it was only her.

Rebecca tried desperately to remember that this werewolf was Remus, but she just couldn't. Though she knew it was a fact, it was difficult to imagine. She ran faster, not caring to even pant, and she could still hear the werewolf behind her.

Rebecca looked back quickly, only to see how close she was to possible death, but she suddenly stumbled to the ground. The werewolf howled violently, but Rebecca was able to pick herself up and run in another direction.

She was headed straight into the Dark Forest. Rebecca only had one thing on her mind—that whatever happens, she mustn't get bitten.

In the Dark Forest, she hid behind one of the trees. Only then did she start panting wildly, but now was not a good time to make even a sound. Rebecca knew that the werewolf was not so far behind. She peered away from the tree, and saw the werewolf.

If it couldn't see her, it could hear her. But if it couldn't hear her as well, it could still smell her.

When the werewolf ventured deeper into the forest, not noticing where Rebecca was, she silently sighed with relief. She slowly stepped back, planning to escape, but she suddenly stepped on a dry twig. It snapped, and that snap sounded like an explosion in the intense silence.

The werewolf quickly looked at Rebecca, then did not hesitate to go after her. Rebecca ran for it again, her face was being painfully whipped by the stray branches from the trees, leaving thin, deep gashes on her cheeks.

She stumbled again, this time over the root of one of the trees. She tried to stand up, but she ended up falling even harder. She realized she'd broken her ankle.

The werewolf was standing so close to her already, she was convinced this was it. Rebecca suddenly thought of something—she whipped out her wand and cast a blasting spell, so the werewolf was thrown out of the way. It seemed to work for a second, but it only made the werewolf angrier.

It pounced, and it was able to deeply scratch her forearm. Rebecca screamed in pain, but before the werewolf could bite her, something big and black knocked it out of the way. Rebecca tried to keep track of it all, and she saw that it was a huge bear like dog that pushed the werewolf away from her. The werewolf and the dog fought violently.

Rebecca felt a hand on her shoulder. "Get up! We have to leave, now!" It was James.

"James?" Rebecca squinted. "I can't—I've broken my ankle—"

Surprisingly, James picked her up and carried her out of the Dark Forest. It didn't take that long—the first thing James did was knock on the door of Hagrid's hut when they were out of the forest.

"Jus' a momen'!" Hagrid's voice came from inside the hut. When he opened the door, he stared at James and Rebecca. "Bloody hell, James, wha' are ya doin' here?"

"It's full moon," James replied, and Rebecca was surprised his voice was calm.

"And, uh…" Hagrid referred to Rebecca.

James grimaced. "She was with Rem."

Hagrid let them in, and James put Rebecca down on the sofa. "You knew?" she asked James and Hagrid. "You knew Remus was a werewolf?"

"Ssh!" James hissed at her. "You should be happy we saved your life. Aren't you even going to thank us?"

Rebecca calmed down a little. "Thank you," she said.

There was a moment of silence before somebody started knocking on the door again. When Hagrid opened the door, it was Sirius. Rebecca felt the blood rush to her face instantly, but she didn't look away. Sirius was looking at her as well. He came in, and when he stepped in the light, Rebecca saw that he had a horrible gash above his eye.

"Did you get hurt?" Sirius asked Rebecca awkwardly.

Rebecca shook her head, "Not much," then she showed her forearm.

"Did he bite you?"

"No, it's… it's just a scratch."

There was silence. "She broke her ankle," James told Sirius, then he faced Rebecca, "I wouldn't trust any of us to fix your ankle—Madam Pomfrey should do it. I'm going to go back to the forest," he nodded to Sirius and Rebecca, "See you two later."

James left the hut. "James might get hurt." Rebecca frowned, obviously mortified by the fact that James was going to a werewolf, regardless of who he was in human form.

"He'll be fine," Sirius stopped her from trying to get up by holding her shoulder. Rebecca felt an electric shock, and she thought Sirius felt it too, since he let go right away.

"I'm gonna have ter feed Fang," Hagrid smiled, sensing that Sirius and Rebecca needed time alone. Fang and Hagrid went out of the hut as well.

"I don't understand," Rebecca muttered when she and Sirius were finally alone.

"James, Peter and I," Sirius explained, "were all illegal Animagi. For Remus."

"Because werewolf won't harm animals," Rebecca realized.

Sirius sat next to Rebecca and held her wrist. He turned over her arm and prodded the bloody gash. Rebecca jerked, "Careful."

"Sorry," Sirius muttered. "At least he didn't bite you."

Sirius pulled out his wand and sealed up the gash on Rebecca's arm. When Sirius let go, Rebecca was all healed. "Thanks," she grunted.

"I can't do your ankle. You're going to have to wait till we could get you to Madam Pomfrey."

There was an awkward silence.

"Look," Rebecca sighed, "about Hera—"

"Don't," Sirius snapped. "Don't say it."

"But you need to know—"

"Yeah," Sirius nodded. "But please don't do this now. Please."

Rebecca shook her head, "I would never… hurt Hera. She was my friend. You know that."

Sirius stayed silent. Then he said, "No one should know about Remus. Okay?"

"I wasn't going to tell anybody."

"You're scared of him now, are you?"

Rebecca chuckled darkly. Then she said, "Sirius. What happened with Hera was an accident."

"I told you not to talk about that."

"You can't keep running away!" Rebecca raised her voice. "I can't stand this anymore! I _know_ Remus told you what really happened that night at the Quidditch World Cup!"

Sirius stared at Rebecca, but he didn't speak. He didn't want to admit she was right, but he didn't want to lie that she was wrong either. He sighed, "Can we just… talk about this some other time?"

Rebecca wanted to retort, but she only looked away and frowned.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you," Sirius said stiffly.

Rebecca shook her head, "Forget it."

There was an awkward silence again. "So, now you know."

"I don't understand why Remus hid it from me. I mean…"

"I know. We felt the same way when we found out he was a… you know. We kept on asking why he didn't tell us before, 'cause we're his friends anyway. But, understand him. He's just frightened."

"Of what?"

Sirius shrugged. "Of losing his friends. Of himself."

Rebecca grimaced. "He has nothing to be scared of."

Silence again.

"Sirius?" Rebecca muttered. Sirius felt a little nervous when she said his name like that. She continued, "I'm really sorry."

"Me too," Sirius replied. They didn't specify what they were both sorry about, but they knew.

"I really want to talk about…" Rebecca trailed away.

Sirius sighed again, ran a hand through his hair and stared at Rebecca. "You want to talk? Fine. Let's talk. One question, one answer."


	32. When I Look At You

**OH THIS CHAPTER. SO VERY CHEESY.**

**I'm not very sure about whether or not I like this chapter, but oh well. :/ i NEED to update. :| How long have I not been updating? Homeworks have piled up, people! :(**

**Anyway, it was so timing, because as I was typing down this chapter, I was listening to (me and my friend's version of) When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus. I really LOVE that song. And then the line i quoted down then played, and it really hit me. I was like, "This is perfect."**

**So here you go :P Chapter 31!  
**

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31. WHEN I LOOK AT YOU

"_When I look at you, I see forgiveness, I see the truth. You love me for who I am, like the stars hold the moon; right there where they belong, and I know I'm not alone."_

_- When I Look At You by Miley Cyrus_

Rebecca started to feel a searing pain on her forearm again, and it came with her broken ankle feeling number and number. "Sirius," she said rather calmly, "I'm feeling a little bit funny, I really want to get back up to the castle."

Sirius had also noticed Rebecca's forearm, and the spell he had cast to temporarily seal the wound was wearing off. Without saying anything, Sirius picked her up and started to walk back to the castle.

Rebecca thought it was very awkward to be in this situation. She and Sirius have never really gone close to each other, physically. This was the first time their skin touched, and _this _had to be the situation, of all situations possible.

But nonetheless, Rebecca actually felt comfortable and warm to be with Sirius. Even if it was like this.

Sirius, on the other hand, had let his guard down. He had to face the facts—and he did, with utmost maturity. He had realized that somehow, somewhere deep down, he actually had some sort of feelings for the girl in his arms. He grimaced at the thought, not knowing whether it was something good or bad.

He looked at her, and she was looking up at the full moon in the sky, her chest rising and falling as she breathed evenly, deeply.

They soon reached the castle, and it was very eerie and quiet. "This is a bit creepy," Rebecca admitted, trying to push away the thought that blood was dripping down her elbow already, staining Sirius' shirt.

Sirius forced a smile, wanting to be warm to her, but it came out more like a sarcastic smirk. "Yeah, you get used to it after some time, though," he replied. He could feel the warmth of her blood creeping up his clothes, and he eyed her ankle, which had begun swelling already. Luckily, they were already at the Hospital Wing at this point.

Sirius kicked the door open, and Madam Pomfrey was awake, looking out of the window as another howl was heard from the grounds. She turned to them and frowned. "What happened?" she asked hurriedly.

Sirius shrugged while putting Rebecca down on a bed. "Accident," he said simply.

"Did he bite her?" Madam Pomfrey asked while rummaging through bottles for some medicine.

Sirius sat down beside Rebecca. "No. Just a scratch. Is it going to affect her?"

Rebecca frowned a little, feeling as if she was some sort of scientific experiment.

"Yes, but only a little," Madam Pomfrey answered and Rebecca's jaw slightly dropped.

"Hold on," Rebecca's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'Yes, but only a little'?"

"Those are cursed wounds, girl," Madam Pomfrey pushed up Rebecca's sleeve and began wiping some sort of liquid on the wound. "But it won't take too much from you, since it's only a scratch. In fact, it'll just take very little from you, you'll probably never even notice. You'll be luckier than Remus. That's for sure. Much luckier."

Rebecca pursed her lips and eyed Sirius beside her. She saw that he had a somewhat guilty expression on his face.

"You've broken your ankle?" Madam Pomfrey asked and Rebecca nodded. With a flick of her wand, Rebecca's ankle made some sort of snap sound, and the numbness, the pain and the swelling started to fade away. Her ankle was fixed.

"Thanks," she said out of amazement.

Another howl came from the grounds and Madam Pomfrey looked quickly out of the window. Then she hurried out of the Hospital Wing.

"Don't worry about her," Sirius said. "She always helps during transformations."

There was silence before Rebecca muttered. "Thanks, by the way."

"I'm sorry," was Sirius' unexpected response.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I hurt you," Sirius looked away. "James and Remus were right. Hera would've have wanted things to be like this." Then he looked at Rebecca.

"Sirius…it was an accident," she reached for his shoulder. Immediately, Sirius took her hand and didn't let go, making Rebecca feel a little taken aback.

"The past is the past," Sirius nodded. "We'll solve it, but I don't want to be all hostile about it anymore."

"We?" Rebecca raised an eyebrow.

"I know you haven't done anything wrong," Sirius said and Rebecca felt her stomach drop, but in a good way.

To be truthful, Rebecca had realized long ago that she had feelings for Sirius, but it was only now that she actually fully accepted it.

"I have some questions," Sirius muttered, turning her hand over in his, "One question, one answer, okay?"

Rebecca nodded.

"Were you and Hera friends?"

"Yes," Rebecca sighed.

"Best friends?"

"We were."

"And did you have anything against her?"

"No."

"Anything against my family?"

"No, not me."

Sirius sighed and Rebecca swore she saw a smile somewhere. Sirius asked another question, a bit different this time, "How are you feeling?"

"…alright."

Rebecca stared at Sirius and he stared back at her intensely. "How about now?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rebecca muttered innocently.

"Oh, I'm sure you do," Sirius muttered back. "I have another question."

Rebecca shook her head, "I thought we were done."

"No, not even close," Sirius frowned. "What do you feel about James?"

"About James?" Rebecca's shoulders dropped, and she didn't know whether to be amused or to be confused. "I don't know. I'm not really friends with him."

"That's an invalid answer."

"Fine," Rebecca looked at the wall. "I think he's very helpful. He was the first person who helped me in the Dark Forest."

Sirius shook his head. "No, I did."

Rebecca looked back at Sirius, confused. "No, James was the first one who helped me."

"No, no, he wasn't. I pushed Remus out of the way. If I hadn't done that, you'd have been bitten."

Rebecca cocked her head to one side. "That was a dog."

Then there was silence. Afterwards, Rebecca asked, "That was you?"

"Me."

Rebecca looked back at the wall. "Huh," she realized, "I guess I owe you my life, then."

Sirius chuckled and shook his head.

Rebecca peered at him sideways, and could see a small smile on his face. This brought a smile on her face as well.

Silence.

Sirius took a deep breath before asking, "And how do you feel about Peter?"

Rebecca pulled her hand out from his and tsk'ed. "No more questions."

"But I'm not yet done," Sirius complained irritably. "Let me finish."

Rebecca sighed. "Peter is," she thought, "a good buddy. I can run to him when I want to. Though, I've never really done that."

Sirius nodded once. "And Remus?"

"I love him," Rebecca smiled, "even if he is responsible for my cursed wounds."

"Elaborate," Sirius grunted.

"He's my guy best friend," Rebecca smiled, but was worried at the same for him as she looked at the window. "He knows me a hundred percent."

"So you're best friends?"

Rebecca nodded, not taking her eyes off the window. "Why, what's it to you?"

"I'm the one asking the questions here, woman," Sirius grunted.

There was silence. Rebecca looked back at the wall.

Sirius asked his last question, "How about me?"

"You?" Rebecca looked at him.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, and Sirius suddenly said, "Nevermind. You don't have to answer that anymore."

"Why not?"

Sirius looked at her again, as if he was examining her. "If I could choose the one thing that's the most honest about you," he said, "it's your eyes."

Sirius smiled and chuckled lightly.

Silence. Another howl came.

"I thought you were never going to forgive me," Rebecca said, her voice a bit hoarse.

"I thought the same too," Sirius looked down on the floor. "But then time makes you realize it's impossible to be that heartless. What I know now, is that you're not at fault. When you're feeling better, we should all get together and try to work things out."

Upon impulse, Rebecca took Sirius' hand and said, "Hera would be happy. For all of us."

Sirius smiled and shook his head. "Nah," he said, "Hera would be happy—even if it was just the two of us."

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**OH WOW, SO VERY CHEESY. :") ahahaha.**


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